Nine Months
by Luckie D
Summary: Set apart from my usual story line, John retires from SVU with Maria planning to retire ten months later. A troubling event happens beforehand that leaves them both with a difficult decision to make. Rated M for language and adult situations.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

**This fic does not follow the current time line I have been using. Just like the Cold Case crossover fic, this one branches off in it's own direction. **

**This Fiction showed John Munch is retiring from SVU and the relationship between him and Maria Frank is more public. With Munch spending more time at home and Maria working towards her own retirement, life seems pretty easy for both of them. Of course, like with any I have been working on, life gets in the way and shocking events happens.**

**I do promise for a happy ending. I seriously do.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Dick Wolf's Law and Order: SVU. **

"Just one more week and we won't have to keep our relationship a secret." Maria Frank smiled as she shifted in her laying position and ran her fingers through hair of partner, friend and lover - John Munch. "The first thing I'm going to do once the retirement party is over is ravish you in ways you have never been." The week before, he had placed in his request to retire and Cragen's expression was bitter sweet. Not only that, Maria was also planning when to drop that on his lap as well.

"In ways I have never been ravished? Are you sure you haven't done that all ready?" He slowly smiled, his fingers trailing down her bare back when she rested her chin on his chest. The night he handed it in, he was barely through the door when she pinned him against the wall and yanked at his belt.

He still smiles to himself about that.

She sat up and a devilish smile creased over her face. "Oh, I'm very sure, dear. See, just because I have already done it many times with you doesn't mean I still don't have any tricks up my sleeve." She laughed softly when he grinned and rolled them over so he hovered over her. "Now now... We have to go to get ready for work in a few hours."

"Ah," He pinned her hands by her head and leaned forward, whispering in her ear. "But I plan on using our time for some fun, hm?" He grinned evilly when she squirmed slightly with a big grin on her face. "C'mon, is that smile a yes or are you planning on slipping from my fingers to taunt me some more."

Easily freeing one hand from his gripe, Frank reached over to her bedside table and retrieved the box. "How about one more go before work?"

* * *

"Do you know how long it's been since I've had to break in a new detective?" Fin mumbled during a stake out later in the afternoon. "Chester Lake doesn't count either."

"No, but I'm sure you are quite capable of doing it," Munch heavily sighed as he lowered the binoculars and reached for his coffee. "In Baltimore, I had three partners and none of them lasted long. Since being in special victims, I've only had Brian, you and Maria."

"Speaking of Maria, what is she going to do once you retire?"

"First off, we're not going to be in secret about our relationship and second, she's planning on retiring once the new detective is broken in."

"Meaning that will leave us to break in her replacement?"

"Yep."

"Does she know when she will?"Fin took the binoculars from John's hands and peered through them, watching the suspected building carefully.

He shook his head and reached for his ringing phone. "She's thinking between nine months to a year." He quickly answered his phone. "Munch." He listened intently before ending the call. "All right, we're rotating. Benson and Stabler are on their way."

"Good," Fin placed the binoculars between them and picked up his coffee. "I'm starving for a burger and fries."

John softly huffed to himself. "I would love a good burger and fries. Maria has been trying to keep me from eating too much of that kind of food."

"How bad?"

"She's hiding my chips and other assortment of junk food I love." He shook his head slightly and smiled, adding, "She's evil sometimes."

Hearing a quick honk of Benson and Stabler arriving, Fin hooked up his seat belt and continued to stare at Munch. "Wait... You have a stash of junk food and you still have a bony ass? Damn, bro."

He could only snicker as they pulled away and allowing their replacement watch to take their spot. "Let's just say that it's keeping me sane during any kind of trip or in between meals because of my metabolism."

"That woman has you under her thumb, Munch."

"As do I." He grinned to himself. "We're both under each other's thumbs."

* * *

"You actually told him we're both under each other's thumbs?" Maria whispered as she refilled her mug for the early evening after he had let slip to her about the conversation earlier. "You're such a sly bastard, you know that?" She grinned when he winked enough for her to only see."I always thought we were wrapped around each other's fingers."

He chuckled softly as he slipped into his desk chair. "That, too." His dark eyes roamed over her as she finished mixing her fourth cup of coffee. "How's the day been?"

"Slow. Had a few calls here and there, but they were not even close to be special victim cases. Handed one over to Homicide, two to Theft, six to Vice, and the rest transferred to Cragen to deal with. From the look of this day, I'll be able to get off shift on time for once." Looking around to see no one around, she moved to stand next to his desk and, making it look like she was reaching for something, allowed her fingers to graze over his fingers. "What about you?"

He shrugged one shoulder and keeping his eyes on her's. I don't know yet. I have to take care of my wonder stack of DD-5s and figure out if I have any meetings later this week. They're trying to drain the last bit of energy I have left with this place."

"They always do that," She winked at him and straightened up at the sound of her phone ringing. "I better get that. See you on the way out?"

"I hope so." He whispered with a trace of a smile.

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank is my own little creation. John Munch and others belong to L&O: SVU. Yeah, I'm bad. Adult content. Teehee  
**

Three days later...

Pushing the door open and closing it behind, Maria tried hard to hide the smile that kept tugging at her lips. Cragen, being his wonderful self, had given Maria the day off after John's retirement party. Earlier, she had thought about getting some comp time instead so he could call her in just in case. But Don knew they both needed time to themselves and promised her he would only call her in if it was an emergency the other three would have not been able to take. She could have skipped out of his office if she would have gotten away with it. But, it would have hinted John of what had happened - she wanted it as a surprise.

Placing her Glock in its lock box and locking it in securely, she headed to her room to change into something more comfortable. John had headed back to his place to do the same before he went over to her's. It was one thing they were strongly considering once he retired - moving in together. Nothing in the world would make them more happy then to living in the same place and not have to worry about being busted.

Unrolling her sleeves and undoing the buttons on the front, she grabbed for a t-shirt and then froze. Her eyes stared at the now faded scars that were forever imprinted into her flesh. After all the patience of using Scar-Away to make them fade, she could see the difference, except on her neck. The pale white line across her neck had faded only slightly, but not enough to hide it, but it didn't seem to bug her. Just like the scars on her wrists, her neck scar was going to be more visible while the others were hard to see unless pointed out.

It felt like only yesterday when she had been brutally raped and tortured by a man she had trusted once upon a time. John had been in charge of her case and he had only been in New York for four years before then. Now, he was retiring nine years later and they were closer then before when she had been in Baltimore. The years had flown by, thousands or more cases under his belt and they had survived every fight and argument when it came to their cases. Once he retired, they could breath easier.

Hearing his keys in the lock, Maria snapped herself back with a shake to the head and pulled her shirt over her head. "I thought you would have changed by now," John said from her bedroom doorway with a smile. His eyes scanned over her as she pulled off her slacks and reached for a pair of comfortable jeans. "Thinking of something?"

"Just staring at myself in the mirror." She gave him a sly smile and added, "No law against that, is there?"

He walked over and stood dangerously close to her, it was pleasantly uncomfortable. "If I'm not here when you are, it is illegal."

"Oh, really now?"

"Oh, yes. It's called The Let-Munch-gawk Law." He kissed her lips softly and whispered, "It was signed a long time ago."

Grinning happily, Maria nudged his nose with her's as he hovered close to her mouth. "Well then. I'm just breaking the rules all over then place, aren't I?" He hummed softly and kissed her again, her arms wrapping around his shoulders. Feeling his hands on her hips, he walked backwards until the back of her knees hit the corner of the bed.

Pushing her gently down and moving to hover over her, they both knew dinner was going to have to wait.

* * *

Pushing herself up to a sitting up position, Frank stretched out her back. She had not planned on them doing that, but it did and now she was starving for food. Turning to see John was slowly moving to get up, she stood and reached for her shirt and underwear that had been tossed to one side. Picking up his boxers and tossing them to him, she asked softly, "Did we plan on making love or was that just a spur at the moment kind of thing?"

Munch stood up and slowly got dressed with a smile on his face. "I have no idea, but I'm not complaining since it was incredible."

Laughing as her face slowly blushed, Maria slipped on her glasses and grabbed for her jeans. "It _always_ is, John. However, within two days, it will be more then incredible." He turned to look at her with a slight tilt of his head and gawked. "And I'm still not saying what I'm going to be doing, so you can continue to stare, pout, whine and gawk all you want, but I'm not sayin'."

"You're evil," John said with a smile and watched as she headed to the kitchen. Turning his head, he quickly glanced at the clock and couldn't believe how late it was. Once they had finished up earlier, he made the usual trip to the bathroom to clean up and then snuggled down beside her to sleep for a little bit. It was now ten thirty at night and they had slept for a few hours.

He couldn't help but smile when he saw the time - in two days, he was going to be a free man and they would not have to hide their relationship from the world.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

Reaching into the freezer and pulling out a pan, Maria removed the covering and popped it into the oven. Just for these reasons, she had froze their dinner from two nights ago and, after their fun, they needed to eat something. She set the oven to the right temperature to warm up the lasagna and plopped down on her couch, resting her feet on her coffee table. "Just two more days, Mar!" John happily said from the room as he finished getting dressed.

"I know, John. I can't wait." She grinned at him as he walked out. Leaning down, he kissed her softly and her nosed nudged his as they grinned. The closer he got to retiring, the more they acted like crazy lovebirds. If she would allow him, they would have constant sex right to the last minute they had to arrive at the retirement party. The more they kissed, the closer John moved to her until she was almost pinned under his body. "Hold it now," She placed a hand on his chest. "Food is in the oven and the timer is on. I would like to eat something before your libido takes over and it burns."

"We could ask for delivery," He suggested, pressing his lips to her neck.

He was pushing his luck now. "No, John." Maria gave him a warning look with a small smile. "Save your energy for later. You're going to wear yourself out before our 'after retirement sex'." John stood up and crossed his arms. As a rule between them, and for any relationship, once she said 'no', she meant it.

He just wanted to know what she was planning. Standing there with his arms crossed and staring down at her wasn't going to get him far, but maybe if he guessed? "Are you going to restrain me?"

"Not saying."

"Are we going to have rough sex on the table?"

"Not saying."

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to allow me to restrain you?"

"Still not saying. You can guess all night long with your wishes, desires, fantasies and craves, but I'm still not going to say, love." Hearing the timer going off, she stood up and pulled out the pan. "Would you like to eat or are you going to stand there pouting and guessing while I eat?" Smiling warmly, John grabbed for two plates with matching wine glasses and forks while she placed the pan on the table with an oven mite underneath. "I knew I could get you with food."

Munch sat down and smiled while she placed some lasagna on his plate. "You can always get me with food, baby." He poured them some wine and waited until she sat down to fork some food up and hold it up for her. "May I feed you?"

Frank smiled and leaned forward, cleaning his fork off. "Tell me, did you use that as a catch phrase before we met?" He glanced at her over his glasses and a coy smile. "C'mon - you can tell me, John. I won't laugh at you."

"Well, not really," He started. "In homicide, I had a bad habit of hitting on the women and ask them if they wanted to go out for dinner. I asked the coroner in my early days in SVU and she said she wouldn't date me since she can still feed herself or something along that line."

Maria raised her fork and waved it a little. "That counts, sweetheart. You never asked me for dinner when we first met. It was more along of drinks first, next was sex and then you said you loved me." He tilted his head slightly, remembering back. "Frankly, the first time we had sex, it seems like we had sympathy sex after I had closed that case the Homicide team needed help with and I was a wreck."

"You were a beautiful wreck, Maria." John reminded her with a smile. "I wanted to kiss you so bad the more I got to know you. We clicked right from the start, but it took us a while to know that the other had the same feelings. Know how hard it was for me to not get caught looking at you?" Maria shook her head as she slowly chewed her food. "It was extremely hard without Lewis catching and taunting me about it." He placed down his fork and gazed her. "Then, when Luther Mahoney got in the picture with his tainted drugs, I didn't want you involved since you weren't trained to deal with the situations we got in."

"Not only that," She added once she had finished swallowing, "but I was very grateful, even at the start of our rocky relationship, you had beckoned me to get behind the bar when Luther walked into The Waterfront and Lewis quickly put him in his place."

Munch looked over the glass as he took a small sip of the wine. Once he placed it down, he nodded softly and said, "Our relationship was rocky from the start, wasn't it? A Homicide cop with a Sex crimes cop - what a combination we were. I had expected you to flip out while we were together in bed, but you had mentioned you were training yourself to not think about it while we were having sex, right?"

She nodded and replied, "And I still am. Of course, it's harder now with my flashbacks and PTSD screaming in my head sometimes." Maria watched as he moved his chair over to sit next to her and kissed her cheek. "I know I've said this many, many times to you, but I'm going to say it again - I am glad you have stuck with me through all of this and have been patient with every flashback, episode and nightmare I have had."

"You've done the same thing for me, even when Uncle Andrew had hit rock bottom." He placed his hand on her back and gently rubbed her back. "That night you found me in my bedroom corner with two beers and a bottle of pain killers, I wanted it to end. I wanted everything to end and stop the pain. I probably would have if you hadn't showed up and stopped me." His brown eyes locked onto her green ones and they sat there - just looking at each other. They had both thought of ending it all with various combinations of drugs, Glocks and alcohol. Even though he was retiring, John knew the nightmares were not going to end and she was going to be right there to hold him.

Hearing her apartment phone ringing, they both snapped out of their trances of looking at each other and Maria stood to get it. While she answered the phone, John took his chance to eat what was left of his lasagna and refilled his wine glass. By this point, he wanted them to be fueled up on wine for later. Instead of their usual bone rattling sex, he wanted to make slow and gentle love with her instead.

"Well, I'll be damned," Maria breathed out. "I need to go in an hour early since Cragen wants to go over something with me." John turned in his seat and asked why. She just shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, but knowing he's going down one in a few days, I think he really wants to go over a few things of what's going to be happening and working on getting Fin his new partner." Not only was he retiring, but Maria was going to be retiring a year after once the new detective is broken in.

He pushed her seat back for her to sit in so she could finish her food, John lifted his glass and slowly drank the rest down. For the next few moments, they were both silent as they ate and drank the rest of their supper. Feeling fueled by the wine he drank, John leaned over and kissed her neck slowly. Not fueled with as much wine as he had, Maria turned her head in his direction and heavily breathed close to his ear as he continued his gentle assault on her neck. "Oh, John."

"Hmm, let's move this to somewhere more comfortable." He whispered close to her ear.

Maria could tell from his tone, he wanted to take her gently and as slow as possible to make them last as long as possible. "Couch has more then enough room for us." She grinned happily as she stood up and took a hold of his hand. "Just because I have to be in an hour early, doesn't mean we can't enjoy each other once more before morning." John gently pushed her down on her comfortable couch before turning on some smooth jazz to play in the air during their love making. Once it was playing at low volume, he moved to pin her down and kissed her softly.

He slowly lifted her shirt over her head and kissed her collar bone. "I love you, Maria," He whispered into her ear as she fiddled to get his shirt off. When his fingers grazed over her stomach, she stopped for a moment and enjoyed the feel of his warm, soft fingers touching her. Lifting her up just enough to flick hooks of her bra, Munch kissed the areas of skin that was exposed once he removed her bra and tossed it to the side.

Once his mouth enclosed over one breast, Maria snaked her hands under his shirt and ran her hands up his spine, feeling him hum in approval. When he finally removed his mouth, she pulled him down for a passionate kiss and he helped her remove his shirt, since she was having some trouble concentrating on removing it. His hands reached down and slowly undid her jeans and pushed them down and to the side before reaching to undo his.

Maria, sensing he was having some slight trouble removing them in his position, helped him remove them and they laughed softly once he was free. It was one thing they held onto in their relationship - laughing during sex. Once she found his wallet and retrieved a condom, she grinned up at him as he removed their glasses and placed them on her coffee table.

Taking it from her hands, John sat up and ripped open the package and smoothed it on, feeling her hand softly caressing his backside. Leaning back down and kissing her deeply, he slowly eased himself in. Wrapping an arm around his shoulders and the other on the back of his neck, she wanted to hold him close to her as long as possible once he began to gently and slowly thrust. Moving at a rhythmic pace, Munch held her close with one arm around her shoulders and kissed every inch of her he could reach. Once he ran his tongue across her neck scar, Maria stiffened up slightly and gripped his shoulders firmly. He knew fully well it was a sensitive area to even make contact with - that one slash across her throat was suppose to have killed her - but how he had gently brushed it, it reminded her, if she hadn't been found in time, she wouldn't be with him at this moment in time.

Feeling John pull back slightly, she gazed deep in his brown eyes and he slowed his thrusts just enough to keep them both from climaxing too soon. "Don't stop, John," Maria whispered as her fingers gently touched his face and he leaned into her touch, his eyes sliding closed. Exhaling a slow breath, he picked up the speed again. Hugging each other close, they gently panted in each other's ears as they began to reach the climaxing point.

Searching out his mouth, Frank slide her tongue along his bottom lip and waited until he opened his mouth to allow her in. Grunting deep in his throat, John thrust one more time and she held onto him tightly until their bodies stopped trembling. With his arms shaking to hold himself up, he slowly extracted himself and waited until his breathing slowed before heading to the bathroom.

Sitting up and patiently waiting until her legs stopped trembling, Maria bundled up their clothes and carried them into the bedroom and placed them in the corner to sort through later in the morning. Getting under the covers, she waited until he joined her under the covers and asked softly, "Why did you lick my neck scar?"

Holding her close to his bare chest, John inhaled against her hair and answered, "Because I felt it was the right moment to. I guess to remind myself how I almost lost you and how we both worked hard to get you where you are today." He kissed her temple gently and smiled. "If I didn't have you, I would be a miserable and bitter ol' man."

"You're not old, John." She smiled at him, running her fingers through his hair. "Damn sexy is what you are." John could feel his face blushing with pride and Maria could practically feel it glowing around him. "Hell, we're only ten years apart and I feel old myself."

Munch kissed her temple again and held her tighter. "Mar, don't say that. I've known women who loose interest in having sex once they reach a certain age and you, my dear, haven't." He nuzzled the top of her head and closed his eyes. "I'm glad I still have you with me."

* * *

Smacking the alarm off, Maria Frank slowly pulled herself away from John's sleeping arms and stretched. She was due in the office for an hour considering Cragen wanted to see her about something she had no idea about - all she knew was she needed to be in an hour early before everyone else. Looking down at her long time lover, she stop smiling and running her fingers slowly through his short hair as he slept. Within a day, he was going to be fully retired and he could bask in the glow of not hiding his relationship with her and plan out various events while she's out at work - she could see the wheels turning in his head every time someone asked him what he was going to do once retired.

Tucking the comforter around him and kissing his sleeping lips, she padded off to the bathroom for a hot shower and got dressed once dry. Bending down to finish typing her work shoes, Maria felt a hand on her back and turned her head to see John smiling down at her. "Morning, sweetie," She said with a smile and kissed him. "You're awake earlier then you need to be."

"I know, but my internal clock told me you were up and about." He smoothed out the collar of her work coat and pressed his lips below her ear. "Last night was incredible," He whispered with a grin. "Still not going to say what's in store for me?"

"Nope," Maria said with a shake of her head and stood up. Tilting his head up to kiss him, she whispered, "Just save your energy is all I'm going to say." He proceeded to gawk at her and she laughed. "I need to go and I'll leave you to your gawking then," She said with a wink and headed out. "See you in a few hours!"

* * *

Knocking on Cragen's office door, Maria watched Don wave her in and motioned her to sit. "Well, first thing's first is I have three months to find a replacement for John and I would like both you and Fin to train the new one." He observed her nod her head and continued on. "Also, we're going to be holding John's retirement party here and basically just wear whatever is comfortable and his forms have been signed off."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. He's a free man now that they've been signed and you two do not need to hide your relationship anymore." Don grinned as Maria's face light up and noticed she was restraining herself from jumping. "So, on a personal level, any plans for you two?"

She leaned back in his chair and smiled slyly. "Well... I don't yet. I'm sure he's going to get bored after a while with nothing really much to do, but he does find his ways around boredom. On another level, I don't know if we do want to get hitched or not. We enjoy just being together and we don't feel like we need a document to say we're hooked to each other like a fish on a hook. John does want us to move in together, but we're not sure if we should move into one of our apartments or find another one." She stood up and stared in the empty interrogation room beside his office. "He's going to miss busting out perps, that's for sure. When I was in Baltimore for a while, I got a chance to watch him work over a suspect and it was _amazing_ watching him knit pick at the tiniest details of the case that the suspect ended up giving up without noticing. That triumphant smile on his face was pure gold and he was like a lion ripping apart the suspect - I fell for him hard by that point."

"Were you two together at that time?"

Maria shook her head and replied, "Nah, but we were on a friendly and professional level of our relationship. A few weeks later, we hooked up and kept it a secret from his colleagues and boss." She turned her neck around and grinned at Don, adding, "And you turned the other way with us and I thank you. You knew we were close even before I started working here and you allowed me to stay while we kept a professional level here and in public."

"You're welcome and you are more then welcome to be personally close at his party, if you wish." Cragen observed her face blush slightly, bite her bottom lip and grinned slyly. "I guess you love that idea, don't you?"

For a small moment, Maria Frank could have passed for a bobble head doll.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my creation. Others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content is involved. I am also terrible at writing up parties...just going to make it short and sweet so we can move along to some good stuff. LOL!  
**

Standing in the bathroom and brushing her teeth, Maria Frank leaned over to keep her tan button-up shirt safe, she took a quick peek at her watch and knew they had to leave very soon. "C'mon, John. We have to get going or we're going to be late." _Would be bad to be late to your own retirement party, too. Fin would never stop pestering him about that...,_She thought as she finished up and peered into the bedroom to see him sitting there and seemingly to be staring off into space. "John?"

"Hm?" He looked up, a blank expression on his face.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

He nodded and reached up for her hand. "I'm just fine, babe. I was just thinking of everything we've been through together and how us working together - and keeping our relationship a secret - is all going to end.

Sitting down beside him and gently removing his glasses, Maria took a hold of his hand and kissed the tips of his fingers. "We've been through a lot, haven't we?" He squeezed her hand as a reply. "Our life isn't going to end when you walk out of that department and no longer a working grunt. We can still have fun and have our own adventures. Hell, once I'm retired, we can travel places, probably move out of New York if we want to and see amazing sights we have yet to see and we could always visit your mother without putting in vacation time."

Considering those ideas, he smiled softly at her and playfully pushed her down on the bed. Giggling softly, she playfully rolled them over and pinned his arms down with her arms. John objected to being on the bottom and playfully smacked her leg. "Hey!"

"You have to behave, John. After the party, I have some special fun planned for us and you have to save every amount of energy in your mind and body for it."

Groaning pitifully, he sat up and placed his hands on her hips while she straddled his legs. Kissing softly, he grinned into the kiss when one of her hands went behind his neck and pulled him closer while the other grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Breaking the kiss slowly, his lips over dangerously over her's and he grinned evilly at a thought. "How about a quickie?"

Pulling away and looking at him with a quizzical expression, Maria moved off of him and laughed. "Oh, John-boy. I say 'no' and you just love to push your own luck, don't you?" He happily nodded and leaned back on his hands. "If we were to, we would be late then we already are. Now, if you are done being adorable, we have your retirement party to get to."

* * *

Walking into the local bar quarter after eight and hearing claps from all who had been invited, John instinctively reached down and grasped Maria's hand and earning a few whistles as well. Face turning red, she returned the squeeze and smiled up at him, motioning with a tilt of her head to 'go ahead'. Releasing her hand and accepting a glass of liquor from Don, he was instantly pulled into a small group of people he had formerly worked with in Baltimore who had come up. Glancing over his shoulder to see her being pulled into a conversation with Kay, they shared a look and winked at each other.

Isn't wasn't long until Fin leaned over to the bartender and motioned for him to turn up the music just enough to be heard over the voices of the hundred so people who had arrived to celebrate John's retirement. It wasn't long before John managed to migrate through the crowd and find Maria sitting at the bar with Kay Howard, with a Martini in front of her. "Hey, party boy. Having fun?" Kay asked as he sat down beside Maria and motioned for another drink.

"I'm seeing people I haven't seen in ages, actually. How have you been, Kay?"

"Good. I'm not working Fugitive Squad anymore and I'm enjoying commanding my own squad now." She motioned a hand towards Maria, who motioned for another Martini. "This chick here's been giving you your own space since this is your thing, but it would be wise to get her away from the Martinis before she gets so hammered, she won't be able to stand up."

Maria waved her hand and grinned. "I'm just fine. I'm him his space for the time being. Of course, once he gives his speech down and over with-"

"Shit!" John grumbled and his shoulders slumped down. "I forgot about that."

Laughing, Maria leaned over and kissed his lips softly. "It's doesn't need to be a long speech or a complicated, mind-fuck of a speech. Just say what you have in your mind and go with it." He tilted his head slightly and motioned to her still full drink. "Hey, I'm still sober enough to think clearly and," She held up her fore finger and slyly smiled, "This is only my second drink."

"Best not overdue it, Mar," He warned with a grin as he leaned forward to trace his hand up her thigh. "Once this party is over, it'll be our own little party at my place." A slow sexy smile slide along her lips and she happily giggled to herself, yet quietly enough to not alarm a few former cops who had come over to talk with him.

As soon as he had sat down, he was gone in the crowd with Fin tailing close behind him. "Got your speech planned out or are you going to be readin' from a napkin?" He asked casually once Munch had stopped walking.

"I had forgotten about it, to be honest. Maria just reminded me about it just now." Fin huffed and muttered to himself. "Yeah, I know. 'The old guy has forgotten the main part of this whole shin-dig' is what you're thinking." His dark eyes stared down at his now ex-partner and they both smirked. "Just don't be too rough when breaking in the new partner, okay?"

Fin looked down at his drink and sighed. "Yeah, bro. I'll try not to be _too _rough and tough on him. Girlfriend will be helpin' as well too, you know." John tilted his head slightly and stared at his dark friend. "Well, of course she is! She doesn't have a partner now, either. She's the one you should be lecturing, though."

"She's a little too far from lecturing at the moment. There's a reason why she only hits the Martinis only a few times in a year, Fin." He glanced over to see her laughing at something Kay had said. "I think it's safe to say she's going to be begging to get laid tonight once this is done with."

"Hey! I don't need to hear you talking about nailing some skirt, Munch. Let alone hearing you talk about Maria like that and don't need that image in my head." He leaned over to the bartender and asked for a refill on his drink.

Munch waved Fin's comments away with his hand and pondered deeply to himself of what to say. _It's been fun? Fuck, do I even want to say that? We've had good laughs over a cup of coffee and a decomposing body! Jesus, John. Don't do that either. Do what Maria suggested; short, sweet and to the point! _

Several minutes past ten that evening, John finally decided on what he was going to say and, with a request to lower the radio volume, he moved to sit on the bar counter to have everyone's attention. Only a few bar seats from him, a smiling and wild-eyed Maria Frank sat with her third Martini in front of her and Meldrick Lewis keeping one hand on her shoulder in case she toppled over from a giggle fit. Chucking at the sight of the super-happy smiling Maria, he turned his head back to the crowd, who were all waiting to hear what he was going to say. "Well, um...I didn't really plan for anything in particular to say since I had actually forgotten I had to do this speech thing." A chuckle reached his ears and he turned to see her with a silly smile. "My happy-go-drunk lady friend over there is the one who reminded me, so I shall say these few words - I don't want to say this was good fun with a cup of coffee in one hand and a dead body in front of us. I do want to say that it's been a wonderful experience working with all of you, gaining a lot of friends over the years and," Munch looked over in Maria's direction, "gaining a true love who has been and who will always be there for me."

Maria Frank's face lit up with a glow of pride emerging on her face. Quickly realizing people were turning to look and smile at her, she bite her bottom lip and waved like a child, her lips pulling back in a grin. He cleaned his throat and said his last words, "What I really want to say is I'm going to miss working with the current squad, just like I have missed working with Homicide. I love you guys, in my own way of course." He hopped down from where he was sitting and moved over next to her and, with a slick smile, happily announced, "And, I can to this now!" With a quick wrap around her waist, he kissed her deeply and practically had to help her stand up straight since she had now grown weak in the knees. A mix of whistles and cat calls echoed through the bar and they heard none of it. It was finally out they were happily together and the grin on their faces once the kiss was broken told it all. "And that's that, sweetie," He whispered softly to her as a warm smile showed through her wild and lust-filled face.

"That it is," She replied back, as he hugged her once more and was quickly dragged into a small crowd who seemed very curious about what had just happened. Happily hopping back on her stool, Frank looked over at Kay and Tim Bayliss, who was shaking his head in amazement. Grinning happily and finishing off her third drink, she pointed her thumb in the direction Munch had disappeared and announced to them, "I'm hitting that," and they laughed for a moment. "Hey. Hey. Hey!" She grabbed the bartender's attention and held up her glass with a cocky smile and asked, "Can I have a refill and something smothered in cheese?"

It wasn't long until John peered through the crowd and saw her sitting there with a refilled drink and a basket of something to eat. "Oh, boy." Telling Frank Pembleton he would be back in a few minutes, he moved through the crowd and gently grabbed her attention. "Hey, sweetie."

Maria perked up and smiled flirtatiously. "Hi, sexy. Wanna cheese stick?" She held up one and giggled, not noticing Tim holding up four fingers to signal him how many drinks she was on.

"Hm. Maybe not at the moment, but how about I take this," He took the glass from in front of her and handed it to Kay, "And give it to Kay since you're not sharing the Martinis." Howard took the drink and, since Frank hadn't drank from it, took a generous sip and made a thumbs up motion to John.

"Now, why would I share one drink with everyone? There wouldn't be anything left for the fifth person." She tilted her head with a hint of over dramatizing her words and laughed to herself. "Know what I want to do?"

He took the cheese stick from the basket and took a bite. "What?"

She leaned over and pointed a finger at his chest. "_I_ want to drag _you _to the nearest closet in the place and _blow your mind away_."

His face heated up and he was glad at that moment the lights had been dimmed. "Only time, my sexy and flirty friend. Just a little longer and we can blow each other's minds away." He whispered back and her eyes lit up. Standing up, he leaned over to Kay and Tim, whispering, "Don't let her get another drink. We need her to at least walk out of the bar this evening. If not, she'll lay on the floor all night and giggling to herself."

"Got it," Bayliss nodded.

"Keep her on the sticks for the next fifteen minutes. I'll come get her around that time," He peered at his watch and quickly reached to grab the Martini glass as Maria's hand was sneaking around to take it from Kay's hand. "See if you can get her to drink some water or something close to that, 'kay Kay?" _Next thing we'll know, she'll take a straw from her pocket and try to suck that glass dry._

_

* * *

_Twenty minutes later, John Munch steered a happily drunk Maria into his apartment and locked the door seconds before he was pinned against the wall. "I may be drunk as I can possibly be while being able to still stand, but I am still going to do what I've been wanting to do for so long now." She whispered out to as she dragged her fingers down his shirt and playfully pulled at his belt.

Knowing fully well anything goes, John dipped his head and kissed her with a heated passion and they struggled for dominance. With one push, he had her pinned against the wall and quickly undid the buttons of her shirt. With another push, he was pinned and had lost his shirt in half a second. Watching her back away slowly, she beckoned him with a finger and he followed, only to be pushed down onto the bed and he was restrained with two long pieces of silk fabric Maria had hidden between the mattress and box spring. With his arms held above his head, he was now at her mercy and the wild animal flashed in her eyes.

Removing his glasses and her's to save them from being damaged, she removed and kicked her slacks away and was left standing in her undergarments. John heavily sighed at the sight and was completely lost at what she was going to do when she walked out of the room. Hearing a door opening and shutting, she came back in with her hands behind her back and a seductive smile on her face which made him heat up with untamed anticipation - whatever it was, it was going to be good.

"I've been planning this for a very long time now, John Munch," She started as she moved onto the bed and walked on her knees to straddle his waist, feeling him tremble slightly from excitement. "Also, considering I have tomorrow off, we can play _all night long_." Moving her right arm from behind her back, she slowly grinned when he softly whimpered at the sight of seeing a chilled squeeze bottle of chocolate syrup with a can of Reddi Whip. "Wanna guess what's behind door number two?"

Exhaling a shuttering sigh, Munch could only nod his head and grinned when she revealed a unopened jar of maraschino cherries. "Oh, sweet God. I know you want you're going to do," He sighed and pulled at his restraints. This was her own thing they rarely did, except for special occasions and this was a special occasion.

She nodded and set them aside as she leaned back and removed his shoes. "You've got that right." Standing back up, she undid his belt, pulled his slacks down his legs and, with her eyes locked on his, slipped his boxers down to see he was fully excited for what was to come. Tossing his slacks, boxers and socks to the side, she crawled back up and ran her tongue up his shaft and held his hips down with her hands as he arched his back. Grinning, she grabbed for the chilled chocolate syrup and the jar of cherries and was ready to begin the sugar rush. "This is going to be a little cold, so brace yourself."

Nodding with understanding, he laid his head back down and inhaled a sharp breath at the feel of the cool syrup being slowly poured onto him and moaned once he grew used to the feeling. Opening his eyes and lifting his head, he watched Maria perfectly balance a bright red cherry right on the head of his erection. "No whip cream this time?" He smirked and observed her place the two containers to the side.

"Oh, that's for later - just you wait and see."

He chuckled and shifted his legs to help give her more space. "Will I even be conscious to get to that point?"

Frank raised her eyebrows and trailed her fingers along the inside of his left thigh, causing him to release a passionate sigh. "You will, John. You will." And before he could say anything else, she dove down and slowly lapped up the chocolate on his shaft, leaving the cherry untouched for last. Applying pressure to keep him from coming off, she proceeded to tease him lower and grinned when he cried out as pleasure took over his body and he pulled at the restraints again. It wasn't because he didn't trust her - he fully trusted her - but it was just he wanted to touch her while she did him and he couldn't.

Feeling her mouth enclose around the head, he lifted his head up and could feel her bite into the cherry and trembled slightly at the feeling of her teeth grazing lightly over his skin. The second she released her hold on him, Munch's back arched and he cried out as he climaxed. Waiting for his body to fall from his high, he opened his eyes to see her hovering over his body with a grin. "Jesus, Maria. That was just...," He paused for a minute while she untied him. "How long have you been holding that back?"

"A while now," She replied, sitting down beside him as he reached for the wet towel she had seemly prepared ahead of time. Quickly cleaning himself off, John tossed the towel into the hamper and turned Maria's head to kiss her while his hands roamed over her body. Effortlessly undoing her bra and tossing it to the floor, he pulled her under his body and slipped her last piece of clothing off. "Don't want to take a break, John?" She asked softly, watching him reach for the Reddi Whip and softly sighed as he gently brushed the bottle against her skin.

Munch dipped his head and brushed his lips against her's tenderly. "After this, I'll need a break, love," he replied as he shook the bottle and pressed the nozzle with his finger, releasing a generous amount of the cream on her stomach and chest. Maria watched as he used his fingers to spread the cream over her breasts to below her navel. Feeling satisfied, he decided to play a little and drew out a 'J' on her stomach. He chuckled to himself and Maria sat up to see what he had done.

"Oh, you're just terrible, aren't you?" She playfully slapped him and threw her head back when he leaned down and dragged his tongue from her stomach to her chest. Deeply groaning in her throat as he lapped up the cream on her breasts, Frank wiggled excitedly as he reached into his side table and grabbed for a condom. Ripping it open for him and rolling it on, they both grinned when he made a motion for her roll over. Following his direction, she rolled over and got up on her hands and knees and giggled when she felt his hands on her hips. "You know, we haven't done this in a while," She commented casually as she could feel the bed dipping under his weight as he found the right position for himself.

"Yeah, I know." John replied as he placed one hand in the center of her back and gently eased her move back a little. "The reason is because we're not face to face when doing this and I know how much you love to look at my face while we're making love."

"But this is totally different in a way," She added, with a small wave of her hand. "All this is is just good ol', bone rattling sex."

John leaned over her back and whispered in her ear, "We can make love later on at this rate we're going," before thrusting himself in and making Maria gasp out sharply. Gripping the sheets with her fingers, she threw her head back and shuttered when he pressed his chest against her back and covered her hands with his. There was nothing better then feeling each other's flesh touching and hearing his breathing next to her ear.

Grounding himself hard into her, John grunted as an overpowering feeling moved over his body and pulled himself away from her back to place his hands on hips. Biting her lip and groaning, she could do nothing much except enjoy the overwhelming pleasure he was giving her. In reality, she only did this when he wanted it since it provided them both some overwhelming sensations and he was allowed to be in control. There were no other sounds in their room except the sounds they emanated and his hips hitting her backside with each thrust. Grinning when she pushed back with a moan, he leaned back over her body and nibbled her neck hard enough to leave a mark and thrust three more times before feeling her tense up under him.

Gripping her hips and pressing his face into her neck, Munch grunted as he reached his own climax. For several minutes, they stayed in their position until their breathing returned to normal and their limbs slowly stopped shaking. Pulling himself away from her and standing up, John excused himself to head to the bathroom to clean himself up. Lowering herself down and hanging her legs over the edge of the bed, Maria couldn't stop smiling as she laid down and listened to the sounds emanated from the bathroom. Taking one of the silk fabric pieces and running in through her fingers, she began to consider something she had never asked him before.

Feeling the bed dip under his weight and laying down beside her, Frank turned her head and took a hold of his hand as they both stared up at the ceiling together - allowing their thoughts to wonder in their post-sex stupor. Scooting closer, Munch kissed her cheek and felt her snuggle closer to him. "I love you, Maria," He whispered softly into her ear and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I love you too, John." She reached a hand up and touched his face, his eyes closing at the contact. "John, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart."

Maria rolled onto her side and, holding the fabric in her hand, locked her eyes with him. "I was...well, I was thinking a moment ago about taking a next into our relationship and I feel comfortable for you to restrain me."

He studied for face for a few minutes before asking, "Are you sure?" He placed his hand on her arm to get her full attention. "I mean, since your assault, you have never shown interest in being restrained before."

"It's been a while since that time, hun." She reminded, looking back down at the dark purple silk in her hands. "I feel like I'm able to do it since I trust you so much with everything else in my life and I know there's a positive side to being retrained - not just the bad side, either."

Smiling softly, he placed a hand on her chest and gently pushed her backwards onto her back, slipping the fabric from her hands. Taking the other piece of fabric, he kissed her gently as he took one hand and looped the fabric around her wrist and tied the other end to the bedpost. Pulling away to see her reaction, she tested her own willpower and lightly tugged to feel it loosen slightly - he had tied it just enough for her to pull and it would come undone. Nodding for him to continue, he tied her other hand above her head and watched her for any sign of stress or anxiety. "Feel any fear or become uncomfortable, tell me right away and I'll untie you and we can call it a night or try something else, understand?"

Maria closed her eyes and took in a deep, relaxing breath, concentrating on the **now **and not what had happened those few years back. Sadly smiling when she felt his fingers trace over a scar under her left breast, she opened her eyes to see him looking down at the offending scar and she nudged him with a leg to get his attention. "You can touch them all if it makes you feel any better, sweetheart," She offered him at seeing a sober expression on his features.

"I just...I don't know. It upsets me to think that someone would go out of his way to harm you in the way he did and I couldn't be there to stop or prevent it from happening." He sighed softly and stared at the scar on her neck that was a constant reminder to them both.

Frank motioned him to come close to her face and she lifted her neck just enough to kiss him with heated passion. Pulling away just enough for her lips to hover over his, she reminded him, "You didn't know I was here and you couldn't do anything, love. It happened, I'm still with you and I will be forever with you. I love you John and you know I am always your girl." She kissed him once more and ran her tongue along his bottom lip to get him moving along.

Deepening the kiss, John Munch kept a reminder to himself to go slow in case she freaked as he reached into his side table once more. French kissing her, he pressed his hips into her's and rocked just enough to cause friction for both of them to groan at. Placing a hand on her chest, he moved down her jaw and softly licked her neck scar, feeling her gasp sharply. "Oh, John," She sighed and arched her back slightly as his hand brushed down her chest, his fingers lightly grazing her breast. "Please...," She pleaded softly for him to touch her more.

Moving down her chest slowly, he closed his mouth over right breast and tenderly suckled just enough to feel her whine and squirm under him. Lifting his head to see her expression, her eyes were heavy with lust and she whined again and lifted her hips to show what she wanted. Chuckling, Munch slipped a hand down and gently caressed her and she squirmed again, throwing her head back with a gasp. "Why must you taunt me like this?" She questioned, catching her breath.

"I just want to make sure you're also ready for this, sweetie," He explained and her face softened. "I don't want you to get scared when I start."

"John, the difference between Kevin and you is you are taking your time." She told him carefully. "He didn't and he was cruel with each thrust he did and it hurt every time for those five hours. You're gentle and patient when it comes to us and sex. That's the difference." Closing her eyes at the feel of his hands roaming up her body, they kissed passionately and she wished, for a brief moment, her arms were free so she could just touch him. Grinning when he moved to kissing and nibble below her ear, Maria lifted her hips up as her way to ask him to take her now.

Slowly outlining the outer part of her ear with his tongue, John whispered, "Ready?" and she groaned in response. He chuckled and brushed the hair out of her face. "I guess so, love."

"Now, please," She softly begged and trembled with anticipation when he finally picked up the packet he pulled out earlier and opened it with his fingers. Watching him ease it on, she laughed with he slipped his hands under her body and moved her up closer to the headboard to give him more space and to ease up the tension that would begin to form in her arms being tied above her head. "Got a plan for a certain position with me being stuck here?"

Munch caressed her right leg with his hand and smiled with a nod. Getting comfortable, he hovered over her body and lifted her right leg until it was settled on his shoulder, watching her face for any signs of stress or pain as he entered her. She was feeling the opposite actually; she closed her eyes and smiled at the feeling he was providing her and her sharp intake of air made him smile. For the next few moments, he kept his hands planted firmly by her shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes as he continued his motions, moaning every few minutes when she would lift her hips to deepen their pleasure.

Grabbing for a pillow, he scooted it under her hips and, to make her cry out, rotated his hips and her body jerked as she climaxed for the second time that evening. Thrusting himself once more, John Munch cried out as his orgasm hit him for the third time that night and his body was spent. "Holy shit, Maria," He gasped out as he very slowly lowered her leg from his shoulder and extracted himself. "Maybe I should rotate my hips more often." They both chuckled as he reached up and undid the loose knots on her wrists. Placing her hands on his sides, they leisurely kissed.

Standing up, he excused himself to the bathroom for the second time that night and returned with two glasses of water for both of them. Draining the glasses, he picked up the three containers and took them out to the kitchen, along with the now empty glasses. Getting under the covered with her and holding her close, John brushed her bangs back and kissed her nose. "How's your alcohol drive?"

Maria giggled and replied, "Let's just say I would have not been able to _orgasm _like I did the second time if I didn't drink as much as I had." She touched his nose with her's and grinned happily. "That was amazing, hun."

"You are amazing, Mar." He commented and kissed her lips again. "We should do that again with the cherries, except topped with whipped cream next time." He laughed and held her closer with their legs entangling around each other. "You know how much I love you, right?"

"I always will, John, because I love you just as much." Maria nuzzled against his neck and inhaled his scent as she started to drift off to sleep.

**To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank is my own creation and all the others belong to SVU.**

Four weeks later:

"How's John doing today?" Benson asked one morning, joining Maria Frank at the coffee machine. "Or was he still asleep when you left?"

She shook her head with a smile and replied, "No, he was up. He's doing good, but getting antsy since there really isn't much for him to do at the moment. It would help him if we had a dog or something for him to play with or take for walks, but I don't want to leave him alone with a new puppy or adult dog to settle in on his own." She added some sugar and a dollop of milk. "He's been cleaning the apartment like crazy to keep himself busy and watching the weather channel to see how the week is going to be. It's actually nice coming home to a warm dinner waiting for me." She paused and solemnly added, "When I'm home in time, that is."

Two weeks after John Munch fully retired, they moved all of her belongings into his apartment and were able to easy blend her stuff with his. Her dresser comfortable snuggled next to his while her mattress sat in the basement of the apartment building, waiting to be sold or to come to some good use. The dining table had been left in the apartment with the chairs for the next occupant. After rearranging his living room, her couch and two chairs found perfect spots near the windows. Not only was his apartment bigger then her's, it was also closer to work. The park was also closer and they often took walks together while holding hands and talking about anything except work. Their recent talk was about making their relationship permanent.

"Is he doing anything else besides cleaning the place?" Olivia asked casually as she sat down at her desk as Frank sat down on top of her desk.

Frank answered, "He goes out to the park to read and people-watch, takes me to lunch when I call up and ask so he knows when I'm free and does other things. I'm not fully sure of what he does, but just as long as he stays out of trouble, my mind is at ease." She raised her hand to show she really didn't want to know either and headed back to her desk for a day of D-D5s and a case she was working on with Fin. Their case at hand was disturbing at most; a fifteen year old girl, who was already the mother of a year old baby, was expecting another and the case was pointing towards rape or statutory rape of the girl. Neither the girl nor her friends were saying anything about what had happened and they had hit a dead end.

Don Cragen was still looking for a new person to take the empty desk in front of Fin's desk and was elbow deep in departments to find someone who was available for a transfer. He already had three people in mind, but he needed to hear from them of what they thought of working sex crimes. Four employees had declined already and he was becoming desperate.

Several hours into her shift, her email alarm pinged, telling her someone had emailed her. Putting her pen down and clicking it, Frank smiled to see it was an email from John.

_Want lunch? I know you didn't call to request lunch, but I'm hungry and want to spend some time with my girl. I know you're sitting there and reading this, so reply back of what you want for lunch and we can do it. 'Kay?_

_JM_

Chuckling to herself, she quickly replied back with a restaurant in mind and waiting for him to reply back. Two minutes later, he replied back, saying he would stop by and see her before taking her to lunch and he was taking the check this time. She laughed to herself and went back to her D-D5s until he arrived to get her.

Fifteen minutes later, John walked into the squad room he had grown to love and his eyes landed on Maria's desk, seeing her nose deep in paperwork that had gathered over during the night. Not wanting to disturb her, he knocked on Don's door and walked in. "Hey, Don."

"John! What brings you over here?"

"Taking Maria to lunch, but going to wait until she's done with the paperwork she's juggling with. How are you?"

Cragen sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Well, still looking for a replacement for your empty spot, but having no luck so far. Already had four people back out when they heard of the position and I have three other people in mind to ask. One's from Narcotics, another from Robbery and the last one fresh from the Academy in Utica."

"Utica? Seriously?" Don nodded and John let out a low whistle. "That's really spanning out from the normal territory."

Before he could comment, Maria walked in with a D-D5 in her hands, the pen tucked behind her ear and a confused look on her face. "Hey, Cap, I have a question about this-Hey, sweetie." She quickly noticed Munch was sitting there and grinned. "Looks like you slipped in without me noticing."

He stood up and kissed her temple. "You were nose-deep in work and didn't want to bother you until you were finished or ready to go." He explained softly.

Maria nodded her head in one direction and said with a smile, "Let me just get this figured out and we'll get going. You can wait by my desk, if you want." He walked out to leave them be for a few moments to sort out the problem and scanned over the squad room. Even though it's been four weeks, it felt like there was a big change in the room. It had it's distinctive smell about it, but it felt different since he was no longer working there. He nodded in the direction of Benson and Stabler, who he saw a few days back for some drinks at a local bar. "All right, let's go, John." Maria called, snapping him out of his thoughts and they walked to his car for some lunch.

They stopped off at a local deli restaurant and ordered sandwiches; a turkey with toasted pretzel bun for Maria and a roast beef on rye for John. While waiting for their meals to arrive, John leisurely took a sip from his iced tea and dropped a question on Maria. "What do you think about us getting matching tattoos?"

Frank finished her slowly sucking on her straw and raised her eyebrows at the idea. "That would certainly be something for us to both have, but what brought this up?"

He shrugged and casually said, "Just a thought that came through my mind, that's all. We moved in together, we've talked about getting married and it just seemed like a good idea for us to get matching tattoos with our names." Maria chuckled softly and shook her head. "What?"

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea because it is a good idea, sweetheart. What's amazing me is you are taking full advantage of us finally living together and being out with our relationship. I guess it's just because I'm used to us hiding it for so long, it's kind of a shock to my system at the moment." She toyed with her straw and kept her gaze at the table top, pretending to admire the polish wood.

Munch shook his head and placed his hand on top of her's to get her attention. "It'll be all right, Mar. I know this is a huge shock for you since I was and still am your first love after all those failed relationships. We were hiding it for so long from everyone, it became second nature for both of us." She lifted her eyes and gave a tight smile to show she understood. "I'm still getting used to it myself and I'm showing it by being all excited about our relationship going even further. If I didn't show it, I'd be having an anxiety attack," He half-joked and she chuckled with a nod of her head. "Okay? Moving forward is hard and it doesn't matter how long we've been together either."

"That's true," She agreed and watched as their meals arrived. "I'm starving, that's for sure."

John picked up the first half of his sandwich and pointed to her stomach with his forefinger. "How are you feeling, by the way?" Over the past few days, she had been dealing with what she called 'morning flu' and she believed it was from stress. He didn't think it was and was glad she passed on chips to go with her sandwich, but he hoped her meal wasn't going to do disturb her already 'tender gut'.

She took her knife and cut one half of her sandwich in half again and took a small bite. "It's actually settled a little to the point I'm able to drink coffee and not worship the porcelain God in the ladies' room."

"Isn't it 'Goddess'?" He quipped with a smirk, glad to see her eating something decent for once and enjoying it as well. For the next few minutes, they didn't speak until half of their sandwiches were gone. Requesting a refill of his iced tea, Munch reached out and tucked a dark strand behind her ear and she smiled. "I can't wait until you're retired, Maria Frank."

"It's been four weeks already, so that cuts one month down and ten more to go." She smirked as he shook his head. "What? Too long for you?"

"Yes, of course it is. I waited so long for my retire to come and now I have to wait for you to follow in my steps. Ten months feels like ten years to me." He admitted and tilted his head to one side, watching her expression carefully. She nodded her head in understanding and reached out for his hand, squeezing his fingers. "I wish you could get out earlier, sweetheart."

"I'm trying to reach the right number for my pension of how many years it's been since I started working special victims. I've been doing it for a long time, dear, and I just want to reach that specific number so I can get my goal for my pension. In ten months, I will reach what I'm going for." She knew fully well he could easily double dip into both of his pensions in case they needed anything, but she wanted to earn as much as possible so they could get out of the apartment life and possible find a house outside of the city and away from the city life. "I want to put in my own share and not turning to you for it, that's all."

John smiled at her concern to not turn to him as the bank. She never considered him as one and happily kept a decent amount of money in her bank account for emergencies or to get him something special. He often joked she had enough money to by them a boat. "Fine, but being home and doing things alone is wearing me out a little." He once again admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "I love having you around and we can do things together."

"I know, dear. Maybe I can find you something to do later this weekend." She pulled out a napkin and a pen from her pocket to scribble down some notes. Keeping John humanly sane enough while she was working was her main priority. "Maybe find some sort of craft for you to do for fun or can come to good use in the apartment."

"A craft? Like sewing?" He joked as he leaned over.

She froze for half a second with a disturbing image in her head of John Munch sewing. She shook her head sharply and chuckled, "No, I don't think so! I'm talking about painting something or a puzzle that can keep your mind going for hours."

"What puzzle has been able to keep me focused for hours?" He asked as he took a sip from his newly refilled glass.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I could grab you a thousand piece puzzle from the local store and I can pull me foldout table for you to use." She observed him carefully as he nodded his head slowly. "I just don't want you to get so bored, you'll find something on your own to do and we both know ninety percent of the time, you will get into trouble." Munch sheepishly smiled and blushed slightly. "Ahhhh...Good to know you remember that catastrophe I came home to."

"I _was _trying to clean something and it turned into something completely different. I _did _want a black hole to swallow me up when you got home and saw the mess." He explained, sinking a little low in his chair at being reminded. "At least you forgave me after you heard my complete explanation of the whole thing for those two hours over dinner."

Maria shook her head and motioned for him to sit up a little more before he disappeared below the table. "Of course I forgave you for that. I did shit like that myself when I was on my own and when I had Scott. It happens. Although I was a little pissed since I had been working a double on the Stolter case since Benson and Stabler were 'taking some time off' and leaving Fin and I to deal with it, but I forgave you, baby."

He sighed sadly and took her hand in his. "It probably stress then that's causing your nausea then. How's the sandwich holding out?"

"Good. In fact, I could probably have another one of those." They laughed and John requested for two more sandwiches for home. Taking the check, he went up to pay for it while Maria picked up the boxes with their food and they headed to the car. "I should be home around my normal time, unless the case opens up a new door for us."

"How close are you?"

"Not close enough to make any of us feel comfortable. The girl isn't saying anything that will help the case and I'm stuck." She looked over at him sadly and sighed, showing how drained she was. She stayed quiet all the way back to work and leaned over to kiss him. "I don't mean to be an ass and bringing my cases to our lunches and home."

"I asked, hun. Don't fret over it, okay?" She nodded and undid her seatbelt. "I'll have dinner ready when you get home. Anything in particular you want?"

She shook her head and opened the door, leaving the boxes of sandwiches on her seat. "Not really, so just have fun coming up with something." He smiled and reached up to poke the tip of her nose with his finger, making her smile. "Love you, John."

"Love you, too."

* * *

Later that night -

John placed two plates of Fagottini on the table right when a key being put into the lock reached his ears. Looking up just as she entered and locked the door behind her. Turning to face him, she dropped her bag on the floor with a sigh. "I was lucky to get out on time," She said with a drawl in her voice.

Wrapping his arms around her, John held her tightly as she sighed once again, but heavily. "What to tell me about it?"

"How about dinner first and then I'll tell you." He smiled and showed her to the table, where he had placed dinner and an unopened bottle of wine with matching wine glasses. "Oh, John. This looks wonderful!"

"You said 'just have fun coming up with something' and I did." He held her chair back and pushed it in when she sat down. Moving to sit in his seat, he uncorked the wine bottle and poured a generous amount of wine for both of them and waited to see what she said when she took a bite of the Fagottini. "What do you think?"

"This is very good, John." She smiled and forked up some more. "You were able to make this is the time I was at work?" He nodded and ate some himself. "Well, I am certainly hooked on your cooking now."

"Now? I thought you always were," He half-joked with a smirk. She playfully kicked him under the table and he yelped. "Hey! Play nice and you won't get dessert." He winked and she blushed slightly. His smile faded and he seriously asked, "What happened at work?"

She raised her head and eyed him carefully. "Are you sure you want to know over dinner?" He nodded and placed his fork down, showing she had his full attention. "All right," She sighed and placed her fork down, taking a sip of her wine. "It was the case with the young teen who's expecting her second child. She won't say who the father is and seems to be afraid who the father or fathers are of the infant and fetus."

"Any sign of incest?"

"Nope. The infant shows no sign of having the same relative of the girl. Her friend, however, cracked and told us it's no one in school, but some boy she was seeing who has to be at least twelve years older then she is."

"Jesus Christ, Maria." He leaned back in his seat with a disappointed expression. "I'm so sorry it came down the that."

She shook her head and heavily sighed to show she was upset. "I would have felt better if it had been someone from school so it wouldn't have been someone who's old enough to be her," She paused for a moment and said, "I don't know since I can't say old enough to be her mother or father. Her parents don't seem to care she's pregnant again. They're more happy about having grandchildren then anything!"

"What if they're selling her for sex?" She shrugged and took another sip of the wine. "Damn."

"Exactly. I almost decided to stay at my desk all night long and looking for men who raped their victims more then once or something close to what we had, until I remembered you." He raised his eyebrows and leaned forward again. "I have you waiting for me at home and your arms open wide for me to get into for comfort." They gazed deeply into each other's eyes for a long time until she broke it to eat a little more. "One thing for sure, I'm glad tomorrow's Sunday and I won't be called in unless it's an emergency."

"Me, too." He softly said and reached out to take her hand. "Thank you for telling me, sweetheart."

Maria sadly smiled and squeezed his hand. "You're welcome. I don't want to bring work home, but you're different because you've lived and seen it. Hell, you saw my assault photos, right?" He nodded and she huffed softly. "Then you have seen it all, dear."

Munch released her hand and sat back in his chair with his arms crossed. Yes, he saw those photos taken of her at the crime scene and at the hospital before being stitched up and placed in critical condition for overnight. The photos made his stomach roll with sickness at the gashes and cuts that had been inflicted on her in between being raped by her former partner from Boston. Her genitals had been torn from his blunt force and she needed stitches to stop the bleeding that had caused her tragic pain for weeks while living off of pain killers and antibiotics for any infections.

Once he had been done raping her, he attempted to kill her with a slice across her throat. He had missed her arteries by one centimeter and she slowly began to bleed to death before being found three hours later. She would have died if she hadn't been found and he would have been a miserable person if he didn't have her with him. His dark eyes observing her carefully, his eyes landed on her wrists and saw the very faint scars from when she had struggled to free herself from the handcuffs Kevin had used to keep her restrained.

He admitted to himself often of wishing she hadn't been raped and tortured for five hours which left her with terrible nightmares and episodes, but at the same time, they would have never met up again if she hadn't been. He smiled sadly to himself and reached down to pick his fork up again to finish his meal.

**To be continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation and character. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU.**

Two months later-

"I swear to God, if I go up another pant size," Maria muttered one morning as she laid down on the bed and buttoned her slacks. "I'm going to fucking scream." Sighing and waiting until her stomach grew used to being compacted, she lifted her head to see John watching her from the doorway. "John, have I gained weight?"

Being a normal man who doesn't want to give off a vibe of calling her 'fat' or 'chubby' in case she slapped him silly, he shook his head and replied, "No, you still look fantastic to me." She frowned slightly and laid back down on the bed with her arms stretched out and palms up. "What's the matter?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I just feel different, John. Seriously, do I look different to you?"

Munch leaned against the door frame and deeply wondered if she really did look different. Yeah, she was eating a little more then she used to, she complained only once about her breasts being a little more tender then normal and now she couldn't really fit in her jeans or work slacks. There was just one option they kept their mind to - stress. "Well, okay I'll admit it. You do look a little different, but you've been working extra long hours at work as well. You guys are down one person now and you've had to work extra hard with only four in a squad and not five. You still have your monthly, right?" She nodded slowly. "Well, okay then. Maybe it's time to take a chance with the heavy bag during breaks to work out the extra weight you've gained."

"Maybe," She agreed and sat up with a groan. "I just hope everything goes back to normal once the new kid arrives."

"Don found a new one to take my spot?"He asked, sitting down beside her.

She nodded her head and answered, "Yeah, kinda. He's fresh off the streets, never seen a dead body nor an autopsy, and has probably never fired his weapon."

John huffed softly to himself. "Figures. You have a pup on your hands." He leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. "I'm sorry you have to work with a new kid. Breaking them in is a challenge in of itself." Maria turned her head to notice he was extremely close to her face. "Will you ever marry me?"

She laughed softly and hugged him tightly. "Of course I will. It's the waiting for my retirement to come up so we can use the time to plan everything out. It would be pointless of me to juggle a marriage with retirement at the same time." Smiling when he pulled away and kissed her temple, she brushed her lips against his. Glancing at the clock, she grinned seductively and pulled at his belt. "I have about an hour before I have to leave for work. That gives enough time, correct?"

He grinned slyly and played with her shirt buttons. "Give us twenty minutes and you'll be good to go." Maria laughed when he pushed her down and he then changed his mind. "What a sec...we're neglecting the couch." Taking her hand, he took her to the couch and playfully pushed her down.

* * *

"Frank! You're late!" Don hollered from his office and Maria pinked slightly in the face.

_Busted, _she thought as she slipped into her desk chair. "Sorry, Cap. Lost track of time and hit traffic on the way." _Worse cover up and lie ever, Frank. He knows, stupid._

He walked out of his office and smirked slightly. "Just don't have it happen again, okay?" She nodded and booted up her computer. "Shawn Marks is due here in a few minutes as well and I want you and Fin to break him in." She and Fin locked eyes for a moment and seemed to have been thinking the same thing. "And behave, please? He's fresh off the streets and be here in five minutes."

"Yeah, okay." Frank waved off his 'behave' remark and went to dove into her paper work for the next few minutes to distract herself. After their 'quickie' she had to change her clothes after asking John how she smelled. She wasn't surprised when he grinned and whispered something seductively in her ear with made her blush. After struggling on her next pair of work slacks and grabbing for a matching work shirt in her closet, she had to make sure he didn't grab for her as she went out the door. If he had, she would have ended up calling in sick.

Feeling a presence beside her, she looked up to see a bright eyed and bushy haired young man standing in front of her with a smile. Standing up to notice he was a few inches shorter then she was, Shawn thrust his hand out to her and happily said, "Hi! I'm Shawn Marks. You must be detective Frank!"

_Oh, for fuck sake! _She screamed in her head when she faked her best smile and shook his hand. "Yes, I'm Maria Frank. You're desk is in front of Detective Tutoula over there." She pointed out her dark skinned partner and friend and slightly winced from the expression he gave her. "I'm sure he can be more willing to help you settle in."

Fin's dark eyes glowed and she shrugged with a tilt of her head of how much she didn't want this overgrown twelve year old near her. Maria mentally promised to buy him a few rounds at the local bar on the weekend she and John would join him for drinks. Hearing her phone ringing, she quickly answered it to keep Fin from verbally bitch slapping her with dumping the kid on his shoulders, she quickly scribbled down the address of a recently found deceased body near the local park. "Hey Fin! Bring the kid along since we've got a body." She hollered, rushing to Don's office to tell him where they were going.

Tossing Tutoula the keys, she pointed Shawn to the back seats as she road shotgun. "So, where are we going?" Shawn asked happily from the back as he looked out the window at the locations they passed.

_To tie blocks to your legs and drop you in the river...,_Maria happily thought to herself, but kept her mouth shut and thought of a better thing to say. "There's a deceased body near the local park with signs of sexual trauma. Fin? You get to be Primary."

"Why me?"

"Because I'm still working on the Drawins Case, remember? Last thing I need are two cases to juggle and my hands are already too damaged to do that much longer." With that, there was silence in the car on the way to the crime scene. Once Fin parked the car and they got out, Maria's eyes watched Shawn as he placed his hand on his weapon and she stopped him. "Don't. There's no reason to pull your weapon here."

"It's what they taught us at the Academy; the suspect always returns to the scene of the crime." He explained and tried to pull his weapon again, but her grip on his hand stopped him.

"First off, the suspect - if he or she returns - is hear, they are not going to cause a gun fight unless they are that mentally ill. Second, pull your weapon and it'll give anyone the idea you are too nervous and not cut out for this work. Understand?" He nodded and released his hold of his Glock. "Good boy. Now, let's go to the scene before the coroner takes it away."

Marks followed behind Maria as they neared the dead body and excitedly announced, "You know? I've never been to a real dead crime scene before!"

Frank whipped around and, with her best fake smile, lifted the sheet and exposed him to the body. "Really? Well, here is your first view of a real deceased human being, who will be missed by her parents, siblings, friends, and anyone else who loved her. Happy now?" Shawn paled and she pointed in the direction of a trashcan for him to puke in.

Dr. Warner looked up from her clipboard and chuckled. "Guess that's John's replacement, huh?" She nodded and kneeled down beside her as Fin got a closer look at the body. "How long do you think he's going to last?"

"If he keeps his attitude up, he won't last the week."

* * *

Making her way down the hallway to their apartment, she pulled her key out and unlocked the door with a slow turn of her hand. Opening and closing the door behind her, Maria was greeted to the smell of fresh cooked dinner and hung her coat on the coat hanger. "John?"

His graying haired head popped around the corner and instantly understood the expression on her face. "Bad day, huh?" He grabbed a cold beer from the fridge and handed it to her while his dark eyes watched her head to the couch and slump down on the comfy cushions of the couch. "It was a bad day."

"You're replacement showed up today...," She started but took a generous sip from the bottle instead. Once the cold liquid was down her throat, she continued with a heavy sigh. "He's like an overgrown twelve year old child. Fresh from the off the streets and got to see his first real dead body today."

Munch lowered the temperature on the stove and walked over to sit next to his exhausted girlfriend. "How'd he take it?"

"He puked," She chuckled to herself and took another sip. "As we all do at our first D.B's."

"What does Fin think?"

"He called him 'Skippy' on the way back to the department. He's not amused at all, so I owe him two rounds from our next bar hangout." John laughed and patted his lap for her to place her legs on. He removed her work shoes and massaged her feet slowly to help release some of her tension. "I don't know if Shawn Marks is going to last the week if he doesn't calm down and stop acting like a child. He practically reached for his weapon when we reached the scene and _I _had to order him to calm down. I asked him how old he was and he said thirty-one. He's thirty-one all right - the youngest-acting thirty-something I've ever seen in my life!"

Munch's fingers worked up to her ankles and asked, "He pulled his Glock?"

"Almost did and it would have showed everyone he's a nervous ninny." She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled a long and heavily breath to relive the tension between her eyes. "Anyway, before I go into full blow until your ears fall off, what are you making for dinner?"

John tilted his head to one side and worked the tension from her right calf before moving to her left. He knew she wasn't going to complain with the state she was in and she probably wanted food as much as he wanted to help comfort her, but food was going to have to come first to keep the beast in her calm."I'm cooking spaghetti for dinner with a side of garlic bread, salad and some wonderful wine I found at the store today."

"Seriously? That's sounds wonderful." She cracked a small smile and finished off her bottle with one last gulp and got up to rinse it before placing it in the recycling bin. "Well, with Shawn's baby-like behavior and shit screaming in my ears, how about listening to some of your sweet words to drown them out?" She asked with a smile and hugged him close when he got up from the couch. "I love you, John."He smiled to himself until she continued with, "But sometimes you piss me off."

"I'm going to guess your monthly is coming with that comment." He sighed and kissed her forehead. Over the years of being together, he had learned to keep track of her schedule and keep a steady mind when she flipped from one temperament to another during that time.

Her fingers traced over the simple design of his shirt and sheepishly smiled like a child. "I guess so. It's a little out of whack at the minute, but it's easy to tell when it's coming when I want to take a chunk out of people."John's hands rested on her shoulders and he waited until she looked up and became concerned seeing tears in her eyes. "I'm just so tired, John."

Munch sat her down at the dining table and finished off what he had started of their dinner and placed a generous amount of pasta and meat sauce on her plate with a large piece of garlic bread and a side plate with a salad. Sitting down across her and pouring wine into her glass, he covered her hand with his and squeezed her fingers. "I know you're tired, but you're also starving for something decent to eat." His thumb gently caressed her wrist and their eyes gazed into each other. "What did you have for lunch?"

She shrugged a little and mixed the sauce with the pasta. "A dry turkey sandwich with a small water. Probably not a healthy thing to do, but we were rushed because of the latest case." Feeling him squeeze her hand, she returned the squeeze with a smile. "I know what you're thinking, but you don't have to say it. I'm trying to take better care of myself when it comes to work and you're not there to observe me from a safe distance."

John gave her a sad smile and released her hand to take care of his own dinner. After a few minutes of carefully observing her, he smiled when she finally began to eat at a normal pace and the color bounced back in her face. They both ate in silence for a long time, enjoying John's wonderful cooking.

Once their meal was finished, John rinsed off the dishes and handed them to her to place into the dishwasher for cleaning. Once the table was clean and the leftovers placed in the fridge for later, he pulled Maria into a hug and held her close to show he was sorry about everything. Resting his chin on top of her head, Munch ran his hands down her back slowly and waiting patiently when she relaxed under his touch. "How about we go for a walk?"

Nodding against his chest, she closed her eyes when he kissed her temple and felt his presence leave when he went to his lock box and extracted his Glock. Clasping the weapon holster to his belt, he slipped the Glock into the soft leather and pulled on his coat. It was a normal habit between them to carry Glocks when out, even for a walk. Pulling her coat on as well, she double checked her keys and holster, they left their apartment and headed out to walk around the block a few times.

Turning a corner during their walk, John's hand unconsciously reached for her's and they linked fingers as they walked. "So, I was looking around for available houses that fit into our price range and I found a few out of city life."

"Yeah?"

He nodded and looked down at her. "There are two that look very promising. They both have a decent sized back yard, two bedrooms and we can turn on into an office, and they both sound very promising for us." He squeezed her hand and explained, "You know, once you retire, we can pack up our things and officially move out of this city. What do you think?"

Stopping in her tracks and waiting until he stopped as well, Maria reached a hand up and caressed his face lovingly. "I love the idea, sweetie. Maybe this weekend, we can look over the two and figure out which one to pick?"He nodded with a smile and they continued walking. "It would be wonderful to live outside of the city for once and not hear vehicles all hours of the night."

"Well, that's why I'm looking at our possibilities and we can talk it over. A nice change of what we're breathing in and quiet is what we need." John explained again as they turned for one more walk around the block. "Get out of cop life and into calm life."

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own thing. Others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content. Yeah...  
**

Two months later:**  
**

With the window open to allow in a cool breeze, Maria Frank sprawled out on the bed with her head resting on John's stomach. To add to her relaxation, she finally had a week off after 'training' the replacement for the past two months and, much to her surprise, he was improving. Slowly. Earlier the week before, he had flipped out and pulled his weapon out of fear while picking up the suspect in the case of the rape victim, Morticia Ferves. For now, Fin was on his own with the new kid and he didn't look too happy when Maria told him she was going to be away from work for a week.

She didn't care at the moment. She had the silence from constant questions and feeling John shift slightly under her as he pulled his pillow more under his head made her smile. Reaching a hand up and shifting his shirt just enough to touch his stomach, Frank closed her eyes and chuckled when his muscles tensed up a little since her fingers were a little chilly from the breeze. Aimlessly running his fingers through her hair down to her jaw, he placed his hand on her stomach as well and watched the fan spin slowly. "You know what I want?"

"Besides sex, John?" Maria asked with her eyes closed. At the rate they've been going, that's all he really wanted and same with her.

"Well, actually," He sat up and glanced down at her with a suggestive look in his eyes. "I was wondering if we could do something we haven't done in a long time." She tilted her head a little with interest. "We had originally done it in Baltimore - only once - but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing it again."

She slowly smiled, remembering what he was talking about, and sat up just as he leaded forward and kissed her. Placing his hand on the back of her head, he pulled her closer to lift her shirt over her head. It wasn't long before they had each other undressed and John groaned deep in his throat when her hand gently stroked him until he was as stiff as he possibly could. Pulling away and positioning a pillow just right on the bed, Maria laid down and grinned when John retrieved a condom from the side table. With what they were about to do, he would have to wear protection since she would have no chance to move in time when he climaxed.

Opening the packet and easing it on, he moved up closer to the headboard until her hands on his hips stopped him. Looking down, watched her get more comfortable and inhaled a deep breath at just seeing the sight of her facing his stiff organ. When they first did this in Baltimore, she had used her hands since she wasn't comfortable with using her mouth, but it still blew him away and he really wanted to feel her mouth over him in this position. The first time, he never expected it until she slipped down and stroked him, shaking him to the core.

Seeing her lift her head to smile up at him, he really wanted to watch her but the second she slipped her mouth over him, his eyes closed. Lifting his head up and groaning, he gripped the sheets with his fingers and shifted his legs a little to make it easier for her neck so she wouldn't strain her neck. There was nothing more he loved then feeling her pleasuring him.

Placing one hand on his thigh and the other on his hip, she took in as much as she would allow before her gag reflex was triggered. Pulling her mouth away, she ran her tongue along his shaft and carefully nibbled the area where his leg attached to his hip, feeling him tensing up from the feeling. Giggling when she nibbled the area again and his body trembled, she licked the area and traveled back over to his shaft, dragging her tongue back up it again. He trembled again and carefully rocked his hips just enough to get her attention he wanted more.

Getting the picture, she took him again and grasped his length gently in case he climaxed before she wanted him to. Moaning, John opened his eyes for a moment to watch her do him and he couldn't stop himself from groaning at the view before him. Weaving his fingers through her hair with one hand, he could before himself nearing his point of no return and shuddered when Maria moaning, the vibrations driving him crazy.

It wasn't long when he began to mentally plead for her to release the base of his erection so he could climax. Gripping the sheets with both hands, he began to tremble with anticipation and excitement when she finally did and he grunted, hitting his climax. A split second before he did, Maria removed her mouth and kissed and nibbled in the area between his leg and hip again, knowing he was sensitive there when he was aroused and excited.

Heavily breathing with his body trembling from his orgasm, John looked up when he felt a hand on his sweaty back and smiled at Maria, who had slipped out from under him. She leaned him and kissed him gently. "Stay right here. I'll get you a towel." She softly explained and got up to get a wet washcloth from the bathroom.

Returning, she noticed he had moved onto his back to relax his arms and legs from holding himself up. "Damn, that was amazing," he commented with a heavy sigh. Closing his eyes when he felt her remove the protection and clean him up, he focused on her presence until she got up and left. Hearing her walk to the bathroom, he sat up and waited for her to return, his arms open for her to get into. For the next hour, they laid together and held onto each other until his stomach made it be known he was hungry.

Laughing, Maria pulled away and playfully slapped his stomach. "I swear, your gut has a bad way of interfering with our alone time." Standing, she pulled on her robe and waited for him to get up and pull on his robe. "Anything in particular your insane metabolism wants for dinner?"

John shrugged a little and slowly grinned. "Oh, I don't know...how about surprising me?" Grinning, she walked out to the kitchen and left John alone to get something secret out of his closet. Digging in the back for what he was searching for, he pocketed it and headed out to the kitchen to offer her any help. "Need any help?"

She stopped what she was doing and thought about it. "Hm, well...I don't know. I'm making breakfast for dinner , so you can work on the turkey bacon while I do the eggs and toast?" He nodded and open the refrigerator, pulling out the turkey bacon.

They worked like a well oiled machine as they made dinner and set the table for dinner. It was one thing they had in common - the love for breakfast for dinner. Fetching the jug of milk from the fridge, Maria filled their glasses and sat down as he joined her. The first ate in silence in the beginning, but John spoke up and asked, "Have anything planned for the evening or for the rest of the week?"

"Nothing I know of. Why?" She asked, taking a bite from the toast.

Reaching into the pocket of his robes, his long fingers wrapped around what he had and struggled to say what he wanted to say. "Well...I-I know you don't like real fancy things and how we've been talking about getting hitched, I know you don't want to be proposed on the beach during a sunset."

"Oh, my God," Maria's hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes glazed over. She started laughing with joy as he pulled the small black box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a stunning white gold spiral tension ring with a diamond between the two ends. Oh, John...Oh, my God."

Tears in his eyes, he moved closer to her and whispered, "Maria, will you marry me?"

Grinning with joy, she squealed, "Yes!", and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. With joyful tears streaming down her cheeks, he pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger with ease. "It's gorgeous, John."

"I'm glad you like it. You have no idea how long I've been holding onto it." He explained, grinning from ear to ear.

"How long?"

"Since last year," He answered, seeing her jaw drop a little. "Yeah, I know. I've been holding back that long." John kissed her deeply and could feel her glowing with joy and happiness around him. Sensing she wanted to get down to 'business' again, they cleaned off the table and loaded the dishwasher as fast as possible. Munch took his chance and lifted her onto the table, smiling with she giggled.

With this new happiness in their lives, they were both glad she had the week off.

* * *

"Now, that is one gorgeous stone on your finger, Maria," Olivia admired during their lunch break. Maria had not mentioned it all to anyone, but from how she was glowing and smiling, they had an idea of what had happened. The shiny glow Fin saw while she was working on the D-D5s gave him a real good idea. "How did he propose? On the sunset? A romantic dinner?"

Frank laughed and said, "No, he knows I'm not into something like that. He proposed over dinner at home last Thursday."

"Did you know he was going to?"

"Oh, of course. We've been talking about it for a long time now, but I had no idea he had held onto this ring since last year to me." She carefully pulled it off and showed it to her.

Liv couldn't believe how stunning it was. "It's just...so beautiful, Mar. Do you know when you're going to tie the knot?"

She shook her head, taking it back and slipping it back on. "No idea, but we'll plan it out after I retire."

"Guess you're taking your time then, huh?" Benson asked and Frank nodded, taking a bite from her grilled chicken salad. "No plan for kids then?" Maria almost choked on her food and stared at Olivia with a confused look. "It was just a thought, Maria. Just don't bite my head off, 'kay?"

Finally swallowing her food properly, she explained, "First off, John and I would love to have a kid or two, if we were younger. Second, I'm forty-nine now and John's close to sixty at fifty-eight. I don't even think my body can take carrying an infant not to mention what disabilities can pop up if I were to carry to term. Hell, I have my depression and anxiety and John...his family has hints of depression and mental health issues. Those combinations would be a double blow for an infant. I was lucky Scott came out as healthy as he did, but I'm calling that pure luck on that child's side."

"When did he pass away again?"She asked carefully, knowing talk about her late son was voodoo eighty percent of the time. Last time it was mentioned at work, it had been around the his birthday and Maria had fallen quiet and didn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day, hiding behind her case files and computer screen. That was a year ago.

"Well, let's see...he was conceived in ninety-seven, and I had my C-section in ninety-eight. He passed away at four years old so four months before I came here and was raped. That was in O' two." She shrugged a little and forked up a piece of chicken. "You'd think I would remember when he died, but with all the cases I have stashed in my head, it's hard to remember sometimes, you know?"

She nodded and watched her colleague and friend who had lost so much, but had gained twice as much. "I know. I sometimes forget when my mother died, but I'm reminded when I look at her picture."

"Same here." She sadly smiled and moved a few green leaves aside and forked a slice of cucumber. "It's actually nice being able to talk about our relationship without hiding it from everyone. We can go out holding hands and not worry about being recognized from anyone in the department or hanging low when IAB was sniffing around." She held up her fork and pointed out, "And they were never close to figuring us out."

Benson grinned and went back to her lunch, peering at her watch. "Still working with the kid?"

"More or less. He's straightened himself out a little and isn't jumping to his gun as fast as he used to. I think he's looking more and more promising every day, to be honest. Fin's still calling him skipper and I'm sticking with calling him kid and he has no choice but to accept it." They laughed and picked up their trash to toss in the trash can.

Placing what was left over of her salad in her corner of the fridge, she sat down and peered at her case file. Maria was still working out the case of the young teen girl who was one month away from giving birth to her second child. Her mother cried rape the day before after months of trying to figure out if it was rape, consensual sex, or non-consensual sex. A test two weeks ago proved the toddler wasn't the product of incest, but the teen wasn't saying anything about who the father was.

Maria Frank was close to tossing the case to the side and giving up.

As if John has been feeling her uncomfortable vibe, her email made a small 'bing', letting her know she had a message. She clicked it and smiled seeing it was John. Opening it, she read -

_Case bothering you?_

Snorting to herself, she clicked reply and typed in, 'Guess you can sense that, huh? Yes, it's the case.' She hit 'send' and waited a few minutes for him to reply back.

_How about this... What about the sister's boyfriend?_

Nope. Talked to him earlier and he doesn't match the toddler.

_Does the boyfriend have a brother?_

Nope.

_Does the boyfriend have a close guy friend?_

Maria froze for a minute. The boyfriend had a close friend who had been standing next to him when they interviewed him for the first time. This friend, however, wasn't making eye contact with either her or Fin during their questioning and she shrugged off with him being uncomfortable with police.

I'll get call you. Thanks for the idea, hun!

She hit the send button and began to dig through her files, looking for her notes from when they questioned the boys. She had his name somewhere in her files. Grabbing for the papers from her interview, she scanned them over and typed in the friend's name until she found what she had been looking for.

"Bingo."

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU. **

"C'mon, Daniel. Talk to me." Maria had the older sister's boyfriend's friend in an interrogation room. "I mean, looking at your best guy friend who a hot and sweet looking girl at his side, you want something like that, don't you?"

Daniel sighed and leaned back in the metal chair with his arms crossed. The twenty year old and clean cut young man kept avoiding eye contact with the detective for a particular reason. "Yeah, okay. I admit I'm jealous of Jason and his relationship with Marissa."

Frank grinned and said, "See? Was that so hard?" The young man shook his head slightly, but avoided looking at her. "Hey, you know Marissa's sister is expecting a child, right?"

"Yeah... It's her second from what I've seen."

"It's not that hard to notice anyway," Maria explained, sitting down in the chair in front of him. "She's been on the news and in the papers, if I'm correct." He nodded again and glanced up at her for a second. " When we talked with Jason about Marissa's sister, you looked nervous when Detective Tutoula and myself were there. What's the matter?"

He shook his head. "I just...don't like cops." He nervously smiled and looked at the wall. "That's all."

She huffed softly and smiled. "Well, I didn't like them much growing up myself, but hey. I'm a detective and dating a retired Sergent who I've known for years. Guess I can't talk then."

"That's kinda a double whammy then." Daniel chuckled and his posture began to relax a little. "I've had a girlfriend here or there, but none of them really accepted me for who I am." He looked down at his hands and sighed. "It majorly sucks sometimes not having a pretty girl near me. What about you, detective?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you have crappy relationships before finding the right guy for you?"

She nodded sincerely and replied, "Yes, of course. The man I'm with now has got to be the greatest guy I've ever been with at this point of my life." Maria tilted her head and asked carefully, "Did you want to be loved by someone? Like Marissa's sister, Michell?"

The young man finally admitted it and nodded, tears in his bright eyes. "Yeah. She was jealous of her sister's relationship and she c-came over to my house and we...talked for a little bit."

"She consented to have sex with you?" He nodded and placed his face in his hands, hiding his tears. "You do realize that it's against the law to have sex with an under-aged girl, correct?" He nodded with his face still in his hands. "Do you want a lawyer?"

"No, because I know I did something wrong and I want to get it out and straight with you." He heavily sighed and waved his hand. "She and I have been having sex for the past two years or so and I'm the father of her two children."

"Ah," Maria sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"We both were drawn to each other because we just wanted someone to love us."

* * *

Later that night -

Maria slowly and quietly unlocked the door of their place and walked into the dark apartment. Looking in at the clock and seeing it was close to midnight. The apartment was dark and dishes from John's dinner had been placed into the dishwasher as it gently hummed. Placing her coat in the coat hanger and kicking her shoes to under the dining table.

Carefully opening the bedroom door and peeking in, she could see John was fast asleep on his side and softly snoring. Pulling her clothes off and changing into just a t-shirt, Maria slipped under the sheets and comforter and cuddled up close to him. Slightly waking up and lifting his head a little, Munch placed his arm around her shoulders and held her close to him. "Nice to see you're home," He muttered tiredly.

"Sorry it took me so long to get home." She apologized and her mind thought back to what Daniel had said. _We both were drawn to each other because we wanted someone to love us. _Nuzzling closer to him and placing soft kisses along his neck, she didn't notice tears had started to fall until she felt something warm running down her cold cheeks. Maria Frank pressed her face against his chest and cried.

Startled awake by her crying, John sat up slightly and held her tightly to his chest. "Easy, Maria. Easy," he whispered softly and kissed her forehead lovingly. He whispered soothing words in her ear for the next ten minutes until she was left sniffling and gasping for a clear breath from crying. "What brought this on?" He asked carefully.

"That case at work? Finally closed it and the kid who did it had sex with her because they just wanted someone to love them." She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed for fistfuls of his scrub top. "It just reminded me of how we were pulled to each other because we had healing broken hearts and broken promises."

Sadly sighing at being reminded of the shit they had lived with before knowing each other, he tilted her head up a little and kissed her deeply. "I'm with you and you're with me, love. We're in it for the long run and you know that, right?" He caressed her face gently with his long fingers and she nodded her head slowly. "It's okay to cry, Maria. Don't try and hold it in, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." She whispered and kissed him back tenderly. "John?"

He tucked a dark strand behind her ear gently. "Yes?"

"Make love with me?"

Tightly smiling at her, he kissed her once more and rolled her onto her back and lifted his scrub shirt over his head. "You sure about this?"

Maria nodded and ran her fingers through his hair slowly. "I am. I need to feel you with me, John. Please?" Her hand on the side of his neck, they both gazed deeply at each other for a long time and John closed his eyes when she ran her hand down from his neck to his chest. "Please?"

"Okay," he said softly, slightly nodding his head. "I just...with the state you're in now, I don't want you to have an flashback or anything like that." When Maria's eyes looked away, he tilted his head to look in her eyes and kissed her softly when she looked back at him.

"I'm fine enough that I'm not going to," She explained to him. "Unless I need to persuade you," She moved her knee along his groin area and he inhaled a sharp breath, his lower abdomen muscles tensed. "I mean it at this moment in time for you to make love with me."

Exhaling the breath he sucked in, John finally grinned and pulled her nightshirt over her head, kissing her passionately.

* * *

It was roughly three in the morning and Maria was sitting at the dining table with a plate of two chicken patty sandwiches and cheese sticks as her very late dinner. John had made love with her close to an hour long before their bodies were finally spent and he passed out asleep where he had been laying. Grinning to herself of how quickly he went back to sleep, she picked up a hot cheese stick and took a generous bite from it.

She was starving beyond words and indulged on two of her favorite things. Judging from the size of her dinner, it could have easily fed two. Glancing at the clock, she was thrilled it was Sunday and it was her day off and let the DA have fun with the case she just closed. Sighing, she didn't want to even think about the case or she would end up crawling back into bed with John and wake him up for another go. Course, in her mind, he would object for a moment due to how exhausted he was and he had over done himself to the point she wondered if the neighbors heard them.

Maria slyly grinned to herself and placed her hand on her neck. From where he left his mark it still slightly hurt, but it was down to a dull sting of pain, but she didn't regret letting him do it. Taking a bite from a sandwich and looking around their apartment, she had to admit to herself they were going to need a real home to give them some extra space in case they had fights that required them to spend time away from each other.

A week before, they got into an argument over how Frank was pushing herself with work and she almost exploded on his ass about how Munch had over worked himself. He left with the slam of the door and took a walk to a local bar and called Fin to check on her. He practically drank himself silly for three hours and went crawling back home to apologize for overreacting over her working habit since he had done the same thing. Fin left without a word and they made up in a way they knew how to.

"Hey, baby."

Maria looked up from her thoughts and saw John slipping into the chair in front of her. "Hey. I thought you were asleep?"

"I was, but the voice in my head told me you were not by my side. Had to get up and look for ya," He reached for a cheese stick, but she slapped his hand back. "Hey!"

She shook her head and said, "Nope. I'm not sharing my platter of goods. What some? There's more in the freezer and the pan is still on the stove top." She was feeling protective of her food and gave him a look to keep away. "I know I normally share, but I'm not feeling up to it at the moment."

Getting up and opening the freezer door, John reached for the bag. "I've noticed that, actually. You sure you're feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well," He placed five sticks on the pan and popped it into the oven, turning it on. "A few days back, you had a Hershey bar after lunch and then, five minutes later, you had another one. You never do that."

Frank shrugged. "I just felt like having another one. You go for two, why couldn't I?" John chuckled and opened the fridge, reaching for a bottle of Gatorade. "Hey, mind bringing me one, too?" He handed her a fruit punch Gatorade and she unscrewed the lid. "Gotta replenish my electrolytes after what we did earlier."

John's face went red and he chuckled. "For some reason, you went a little wild on me there for a moment and I thought for a second you were going to tie me up and call me a 'bad boy'." He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Does the retired Sergent need to put you in your place?"

"Oh, now who's going to tie someone up?" She chuckled and slightly shivered when his fingers slowly went up her arm. "How about we save that for later and turn into a little game for us?"

We can do that. How about tomorrow night, I take you out for dinner? Like a date for us since we haven't had one for a while." He checked the pan inside the oven and closed it for a few more minutes. "Candles, nice soft music, expensive dinner and nice wine or champagne. what do you think?"

Maria nodded and finished her last sandwich. Taking a sip from the bottle, she replied, "Sure. Sounds like a very good plan. Guess you want me in my only dress that makes you all hot and heavy?"

"You got that right," He pulled out the pan and moved his snack onto a plate. "What were you thinking about when I came out?"

"Just...things I was thinking of a few things we've had happen in the past. What do you think about us getting a dog once we move out of the city?"

Munch nodded and he picked through his sticks. "Yeah. Why? You want another dog?" She nodded and placed her plate in the sink for washing later. "Well, it's been a while since Ace passed away and all you have to care for is Betsie and she's an insanely unhappy cat-"

"It's just how she is, John. You just doesn't seem to like six foot, lanky, and bony-ass sexy men." She grinned as he laughed, polishing off his plate faster then she could. Maria picked up his plate to place in the sink. "But yeah. I've been thinking about it and I think it would be nice to have a dog to keep us on track and on a schedule through our days."

"Might be a good plan," He commented as he stood up. "Anyway, I'm going back to bed. Going to come with me soon or are you going to stay up all night?"

"I'm coming. You back to bed and I'll be in there in a few minutes." John kissed her and headed back to the bedroom, shedding off his robe as he went. Watching as his backside disappeared into the dark room, she raised her eyebrows as a thought went through her mind and she chuckled to herself. "Gotta love that bony ass man, I do." She said to herself as she made sure the lights were off and door was padlocked.

Walking into the bedroom and hanging her robe up on the closet, she stifled a giggle when she saw Munch laying on his stomach asleep and the comforter was only covering his legs. Laying down near him, she ran her hand down his back to his backside, feeling the slight scar etched in his flesh when he was shot a few years back in court. Leaning down and kissing it softly, Maria reached down and covered them both with the comforter and cuddled close to him.

* * *

Two months later -

"Don't touch that! I swear to God, if you touch that, I'm not touching you for a month." Maria scolded as she laid out a case file on their dining table. Over the past few days, mood swings had kept Maria Frank teetering on the verge of almost turning John inside out. Deep in his mind, John figured it was stress with the endless amount of cases piling up due to it being the fall - new college students indulging on alcohol brought on a rise of rape complaints and one dead molested girl found floating in the river. Thankfully, the molestation case was given to Elliot and Olivia while Maria had been partnered with Shawn Marks, her newest partner, on a rape complaint. "Just don't touch anything."

"Okay, sorry." He apologized, shoving his hands in his pockets and glancing at the clock. Shawn was due to stop over to help work over the case and Munch was hoping it was the stress of the kid being in their place that was making her snappy.

"I'm sorry I snapped, John. I'm just trying to keep this all in line so it'll be easy for Shawn and I to work over. This case is an easy open and close, but we just need to get our paperwork in order for the DA in the morning." She explained, placing a file on a certain pile. "I don't mean to snap at you because I'm not mad at you, but just don't touch anything. M'kay?"

He nodded and headed to pour himself a cup of tea, noticing she hadn't touched her tea. "Got it." He sat down at the dining table and watched her effortlessly sort the evidence, paperwork, notes and files in the right piles she had made two hours earlier. "When Shawn due to come over?"

"In a few minutes and don't interrogate the kid, either. He and I are at a point of fully understanding each other and he's not jumping to conclusions every second of every day." Frank jotted down few notes with her pen and placed it in the 'notes' pile. "All he knows and all he needs to know is you and I got together after you retired. Don't hint about us fraternizing while we were both working, understand?"

"What makes you think I'm going to do that?" He asked with confusion etched in his features. "I would never do that-"

"You almost did once, John. No one needs to know, love." She glanced up at him over her glasses and smirked. "I figured the bruise on her leg is a good enough point to keep your mouth shut."

He winced slightly and made a motion of a knife being twisted in his chest. "Ouch, Mar. You just went from snapping at me, to loving me to being sarcastic with me all in one breath. Stress getting to you?"

"It's gotta be or I'm taking a week off to allow my nerves to relax." She stood up to stretch, picked up her mug of tea and made a face at in. "Eck. I'm not drinking tea right now. My body seems to be objecting to tea at the moment." Maria handed him the mug to take while sitting down with her hand on her stomach. "How about some crackers? Do we have crackers?"

Nodding, John reached into the cupboard for a sleeve of crackers and opened it for her. Instead of taking out a few and placing them on a napkin for her, he handed her the whole thing for her to snack on. Hearing a knock at the door, John peered through the peephole and saw the bushy haired and bright eyed lad outside their door. "I'm going to guess this is him?"

"Bright eyed and bushy haired?"

"Yep," He unlocked the door and opened it to see the grinning young man before him. "You must be Shawn Marks?"

"Yes, sir!" He continued to grin. "Is Maria Frank in? She and I are going over a case for work." John moved aside and pointed in the direction of the dining table. "Thanks!" Munch closed the door and watched him head over to the table, all the while thinking how she was able to work with the spud who could have passed as a son to them. "Hey, Frank. Got things ready for us to go over?"

Maria motioned for him to sit and pointed in John's direction. "Meet John, my fiance since I know he didn't introduce himself." She tightly smiled at John who rolled his eyes playfully and headed back into the kitchen.

"So this is the guy you're engaged to?" Shawn asked, knowing to keep his hands to himself unless she said so.

Munch spoke up from the kitchen with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Sadly, yes." His arm appeared holding a mug and asked, "Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

Shawn nodded his head and told him, "Coffee, please."

Picking up her notes and beginning their talk over the case, Maria wished she was able to stomach tea at that moment to calm her nerves.

**To be continued...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. All others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Slipped in adult content for the hell of it.  
**

Several hours later and the case file finally organized to properly show the DA, Maria walked Shawn Marks out and closed the door once he had left. John had taken refuge on the living room couch and buried deep in the local paper and reading up on the latest Basketball scores. Much to his knowledge, Frank was eying him with a fairly dangerous look that was looking for some action."So, how did it go?" He asked, not noticing she was slowly inching closer to him.

"Fine and it was painless. Watching that boy drink coffee made my stomach roll, though. He drank three cups in an hour and a half," She commented, walking up behind him carefully to not attract attention to herself yet. "About me snapping at you earlier, I want to apologize, but I know you're going to say 'you don't need to apologize, Mar. You were under stress', but I want to."

Noticing she was extremely close to his ear and her breathe was sending chills down his spine, Munch looked up seconds before she kissed him roughly from her angle. Breaking the kiss for a moment, John stared up at her and slightly stunned. "Wha-what was that?" He asked, not fully understanding why she just assaulted his mouth without warning.

"Don't talk and just follow my lead," She muttered, taking the paper from his hands and climbed over the couch onto his lap. Placing her hands on the sides of his face, she kissed him again and deepened it when his hands traveled up her thighs to her hips.

Breaking it to catch some air, Maria moved him to lay down on his back on the couch and Munch licked his lips nervously. There was something flashing in her eyes that made him slightly nervous of her intentions. He trusted her completely, but there was just something in her body language and eyes that made him nervous. Groaning when she moved to nibble his neck and collar bone, John could feel his excitement rising and attempted to try and remove her shirt. A warning look in her eyes stopped him.

She was in charge of their pleasurable bliss for this round. Unbuttoning his shirt and exposing his chest just enough for her fun, she grinned when he closed his eyes and tried to arch his back. Dragging her tongue from his belt to his neck, Maria slowly worked back down slowly and pinned John's arms by his head with her hands to keep him from taking control. Reaching his belt, she undid it with ease, lowered his slacks and boxers for just enough room, and reached for his wallet to grab a packet of protection. Munch's breathing began to become heavier when he noticed what she was up to and he couldn't help grinning with excitement. She skipped pleasuring him and was jumping right down to business.

Lowering her jeans and underwear just enough, Maria ripped open the packet and eased in on him. Locking her eyes on his dark brown ones, she settled on him with one swift move and they gasped simultaneously, John bucking up involuntarily. "Holy fuck." Munch's breathe came out in shudders as he tried to comprehend what just happened.

"Still good, my handsome stud?" Maria asked breathlessly, keeping his hands pinned by his head and kissed his lips with her, nibbling his bottom lip gently. He nodded as he reached up for another kiss and was rewarded with one and the body shaking pleasure when she began to move over him slowly at first.

Groaning and attempted to free his hands from her grasp, John wasn't enjoying how she was taunting him by going at a slow pace and made it be known by his pleading look. "Please, Mar. Stop teasing me like this," He whimpered and closed his eyes when she pressed her forehead against his. "Please?"

"You got it," She whispered and began to move in a steady pace, moving in various ways that made them both cry out with pleasure. Trying his damn hardest to free his hands from her hold, Munch kissed her deeply when she leaned down to kiss him first.

Finally feeling their excitement finally peeking, Maria released his hands and cried out when he opened her shirt in one swift move and pushed her bra up to touch her. Kissing and nibbling her flesh, John couldn't stop himself from pulling away from her to throw his head back and crying out as his orgasm rattled through his body. Seconds later, Frank's body tensed up and balled her fists up on John's sweaty chest.

Breathing heavily and working to steady herself, she leaned down and trailed soft kisses up from his chest to his parted lips. "Still with me, John?" Maria asked softly, cupping the side of his face as he grinned with his eyes still shut.

"Yeah, I'm still here, baby." John placed his hand on her back and struggled to sit up, but his exhausted body couldn't do it. Flopping back down and catching his breath, his half-lidded eyes smiled at her as he ran his hands gently up her stomach and chest. Maria closed her eyes with sheer pleasure. "You like that?"

She nodded her head slowly, letting out a sigh with a smile. "Yes. Yes, I do." Placing her hands over his hands, Maria opened her eyes and said, "Maybe we should move this some place else and change your protection before we go again."

John wiggled his eyebrows and suggested, "The kitchen counter?" and Maria rolled her eyes. "What? Don't like that idea?"

"I love the idea, baby, but I'll end up cleaning the counter right after our body rattling sex." She explained, slowly lifting herself up and and standing up moments before John got up and grabbed her, playfully pushing her to the floor. "Hey now!" Frank giggled and they kissed softly.

Peering down at her with love in his dark eyes, Munch stood up and headed to the bathroom for a moment. Returning to lay next to her on the living room floor, he placed his hand on her stomach and slowly kissed her chest down to below her navel. No words were spoken as John continued to kiss her skin while Maria sat up just enough to take his shirt off and kiss his shoulder. It had been weeks since they had quality time together that involved touching each other gently and just being close together.

Kicking her jeans off and removing the rest of her clothes by hand, she grinned when he reached for his wallet again and extracted another condom from inside it. "Let me guess - you have more then two in there, don't you?"

"We might just find out, won't we?" He teased her playfully and quickly removed the rest of his clothes as well.

* * *

Two hours later, the both laid spent and sore after exhausting themselves. Maria's wild craves for sex had finally settled down and John was bordering conscious and unconscious, his right arm under her neck for some support. Slowly attempting to sit herself up, Frank couldn't find the strength and laid back down with a sigh. "I give up."

"Finally. You've been trying to get up for half an hour now," Munch heavily sighed and slowly pulled his arm out from under her and rubbed his shoulder. He learned, years before, when Maria wanted wild sex, she had a bad habit of nipping him in places where it wouldn't be seen in public. His shoulder was her latest victim. The inside of his left thigh still had its mark from last time. "Well, my shoulder doesn't look as bad as the inside of my thigh." He peered down and inspected that mark. "You are one mouthy woman, Mar."

Maria laughed softly and reached out for him to lay back down with her. "I haven't heard you complain yet." She curled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "John?"

"Hm?"

"Did you learn some new moves?" She grinned up at him as he laughed. "Or were you holding those back for later use?"

John continued to laugh for a few minutes and held her closer, moving to sit up a little. "Well, I actually did...some reading up and since you were literally getting what you wanted, I figured I would try them." He half shrugged and looked away, a normal thing he did when trying new moves with Maria and hoping she had loved it as much as he did. After all, he wanted her to get as much of a fantastic release as he did.

"Oh, don't look away, silly." She reached her hand out and turned his head back so he would look at her. "You silly goose. You don't need to look away from me when you try something new. You've been doing this since as long as we've been together. I'm not like those other skanks and whores you were married to. C'mon...how long have we been together?"

Instead of answering her question, moved to stand up and offered to help her onto her feet. "I'm not going to answer that because I've answered it so many times already."

"Well, there you go. Stop thinking about the hell they put you through and focus on us, okay?" He nodded slowly. "You got me this beautiful ring that I said yes to without a second thought be the thought of being with you makes me happier then I have ever been in my life. Got it?"

John sighed and nodded again, this time with a smile. "Got it."

"Good."

* * *

Two months later:

Sitting up in bed with her hand on her abdomen, Maria Frank struggled hard to not gasp from the pain and alarm John, who was still fast asleep beside her. The alarm clock hadn't even gone off yet and she had been sitting up for an hour now, wondering where this pain was coming from and why. Slowly moving to hang her legs over the side of the bed, she closed her eyes and swallowed heavily when her blood pressure started rising. "Oh, boy," She whispered to herself and gripped the edge of the bed with her free hand.

Sensing something was wrong, John softly snorted awake and opened his eyes to see the dark figure of Maria sitting up and making very soft sounds. To his ears, they sounded like sounds of pain and it greatly alarmed him. "Maria? What's the matter?" He sat up and moved next to her, placing his hand over her's. "What's wrong with your stomach?"

"I-I don't know."

"Are you going to vomit?" He placed his other hand on her forehead and frowned. "You're not going to work today, Mar. You're warm and sweaty."

She shook her head sharply and ground her teeth. "I'm don't think I'm going to vomit and I have to go to work. Marks is on his paid vacation and Fin needs me in case we get a call." She gripped her stomach when pain rolled through her body and she gasped. John shook his head, not liking how she was going to work in the state she was in. "I have to make it to work today. If the pain gets worse through the day, I'll call you. How about that?"

"Not good enough," He firmly stated, moving to kneel in front of her. "Mar, there's something wrong with you and I really want you to stay home today."

She shook her head again. "No, I need to go to work and just work through the pain." She slowly stood up and exhaled a slow breath. "I'm going to take my shower and we'll get this show on the road."

Watching her head to the bathroom, John shook his head and heavily sighed. Sometimes, he hated how stubborn she was, and since her health seemed to be suffering, he didn't like it one bit. Standing up and opening her dresser drawers to get some clothes out, he placed them on the bed and headed to the kitchen for a moment. He poured a cup of orange juice for her and headed back to the bedroom to see her slowly pulling on some clothes. Handing her the glass, he watched her carefully as she took her meds and frowned for a moment when she flinched and closed her eyes for a moment. "Are you really sure about this?" He asked softly, his hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm sure. Like I said, if it gets too worse to the point I can't stand up right, I'll call you." She could clearly see he still wasn't pleased. "Look, I have to this. There's...this case I can't leave alone or be away from."

Now it was starting to make sense. "What case?"

She shook her head and looked down. "It's this toddler who was abused and neglected by her parents." She raised her eyes and looked straight at him. "Mainly her father and it hit hard for me since my father was no father of the year. Years of emotional abuse does that to you, you know?" John sighed and waited for her to continue. "This kid needs someone to talk to her and I'm possibly the only one who can. Liv can't do it because she doesn't understand the father issues that come with one emotionally abusing their child."

"How old is she?"

"Four. She's not talking because she's afraid of her father's temper and her mother is certainly not protecting her." Maria flinched and placed her hand over her stomach. "I...need to do this and get her to talk with how I know how to. If I head in early and work on a plan, I can possibly get her to talk before lunch. If this pain is still happening around that time, I'll call you. Do you understand now why I need to go in? It's not because in case we get a call, it's all because of this little girl who has no one else to help and protect her."

Thinking over what Frank had finally admitted to him, John nodded and grabbed for his keys to take her in. He was going to take his shower later now knowing what was really going on. Driving her to work in silence and pulling in front of the Police Department, he leaned over and kissed her. "Promise to call me even if the pain stops?"

"I will." She smiled and exited his car, taking the steps as slow as possible while pain rolled through her body. Stopping by her desk first, Maria opened the case file and looked down at the case photo of the little girl; the bruise on the side of her face was clear as daylight and it royally pissed her off. Not only was her cop instinct kicking in, but her motherly side was also emotionally rocked. Some years back, she had been the single mother of a wild, spunky and smart four year old boy who had sadly passed away from an ongoing illness that took him away from her.

Carefully sitting down in her chair and deeply thinking of a plan, Frank placed her hand on her abdomen and heavily sighed as a wave of pain rolled over her again. It sure wasn't helping with planning out and it was very distracting. Giving up, she stood up and headed to the machines to get a water and fish out a sleeve of crackers from her desk. Barely walking out of the bullpen, she past Olivia and was stopped when she noticed Maria didn't look good. "Are you okay, Mar?"

Inhaling a sharp breath, she placed her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes. The pain was growing. "I honestly don't know anymore. Look, mind if you come with me to the restroom? Maybe hanging out in there for a bit and see what happens might help a little."

Seeing her friend wasn't well and looking flushed, Benson followed her to the bathroom and waited outside the handicapped stall patiently. "How long have you been like this?"

"I noticed it early this morning, but I'm not really sure. John didn't want me to come to work, but I finally told him about my case." Olivia winced. The case had been pretty tough on her, too. "He didn't look happy with me coming to work, but if I can just hang on until lunch...I'll call him to go home." Frank sat on the floor next to the toilet and placed her hand over her abdomen. Something just wasn't right at all and it alarmed her when she suddenly felt something liquid coming from between her legs. "Holy fuck..."

"What's the matter?" Benson, knowing she hadn't latched the door, opened it and saw Maria's pale and terrified face looking up at her. Kneeling down beside her, Liv noticed a clear-ish puddle gathering under her legs. "Oh, my God. Mar, are you pregnant?"

"What? No! I can't be! No!" Maria answered and shook her head. "No! No! No! There is something medically wrong or something along that line, but there is no possible way I can be pregnant."

Quickly noticing it was her water breaking and not something medically wrong, Benson rushed out the door and called for Elliot and Fin, both who had just settled down at their desk. "Guys, Maria's pregnant, doesn't know she is and her water just broke."

Stabler looked up with confusion. "Excuse me? She doesn't look pregnant."

"You've got to come see this then and see for yourself." She sternly said and motioned for Cragen. They all made their way to the bathroom and Elliot walked into the stall to check on her. Pulling Don aside, Olivia explained to him the situation. "She hasn't been feeling well and her water just broke. I asked her and she strongly believes she can't be, but what other thing could it be?"

Don shook his head slowly and watched Stabler walk out, pale in the face. "She's pregnant and is in labor. I'll keep her calm and call the ambulance." He instructed, walking back in to wet a paper towel and place it on Maria's forehead. "Just take some deep breaths, Maria." He softly coaxed and placed his hand on her abdomen. "Keep taking those deep, deep breaths and try to stay calm."

"What the fuck is happening, El?" She asked, fear in her green eyes.

Trying his best to keep his friend and sometimes partner calm, he thought of his words carefully. "Maria, I know the sighs of a woman in labor and you are pregnant and in labor."

Maria shook her head again and closed her eyes from pain. "No, I told Liv I'm not pregnant. I can't be since John and I use protection every time we have sex." Opening her eyes, she stated it one more time. "I am not pregnant, Elliot." Peering down at the liquid, only one thing came to her mind. "Could be a tumor or something along that line near my bladder. John's not going to like this."

Looking over his shoulder at Fin, they shared a look and her dark partner walked out. Stopping in front of Don and Olivia, he explained, "She thinks it could be tumor near her bladder, but that's not urine that came out. Elliot strongly believes she's in labor."

"The ambulance is on it's way now. Someone's going to have to tell John and take him to the hospital to be with her."

"I'll go and get him." Benson offered and left when Don nodded his head. Grabbing her keys, she headed out and grabbed the first car available. Not long after she left, the red and white ambulance pulled up with the sirens blaring.

* * *

Sitting near the window of their apartment, John Munch watched the traffic and people go by with deeply thinking of what was causing Maria's pains. Not noticing someone was knocking on the door after the first knocks, he almost jumped in his seat and walked over to look through the peep hole. Seeing Benson there made his stomach drop. "Liv? What are you doing here?"

Thinking of her words carefully, she walked in and shut the door. "John, Maria's being taken the hospital."

Feeling his face paling, he sat down and heavily swallowed. "She's been shot, hasn't she?"

"No, no. Those pains she had been feeling? Well-"

"It's cancer," He said softly, his fear taking over his mind. Not understanding when she kneeled down in front of him, he watched Benson take his hand and squeeze his fingers. "What happened to her?"

"John, she's pregnant."

Confusion took over his features and Munch's face paled even more. "What? What are you talking about? She can't be."

Olivia moved to sit in a chair and began explaining to him from the beginning of what had happened. "Then, Fin came out and told us what she thinks it is, but it doesn't make sense."

"What did she say?"

"She thinks it might be a tumor of some sort near her bladder, but the fluid that came out doesn't look or smell like urine." She took his hand and quickly learned he was trembling slightly, his face still pale. Instead of having him get up and move to head to the hospital, Olivia thought it was best to allow him to understand what was really going on and letting it sink in just enough. A half hour later and he was still trembling and silent. Benson carefully released his hand and went to the kitchen to get him a cup of water, hoping it would bring him back to Earth. "Here you go John and drink it slowly," She instructed softly and he took it, blinking for the first time in a long time.

Feeling the cold water go down his dry throat, he shook his head slowly. "I don't understand it. She doesn't look pregnant and I always, _always _use protection..."

"Condoms are not effective one hundred percent of the time, John." She explained, watching him stand up and glance at a photo of Maria holding her - their - late son. "This isn't going to be like Scott. He was born into a world without his father around and what happened to the baby isn't going to happen to this child."

He huffed, knowing this pregnancy wasn't going to be easy for Maria. "Yeah. Sure. _If _this baby lives." John turned and stared at his friend. "At her age, there is a high possibility something can go wrong and either she or the baby could die. If I loose Maria and the baby at the same time...there is no possible way I can continue the rest of my life without her, Liv."

"Don't think that. Just because there's a possibility something could go wrong, doesn't mean there isn't a chance something good could happen." Benson placed her hand on his shoulder to show she was deeply concerned about what as going on. "Look, how about we both head to the hospital and you can meet up with her. They should have her there by now and in a room. She's scared, John, and needs you to be there when the baby is born."

Closing his eyes for a moment, John Munch inhaled a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

"Jesus fucking Christ, this hurts." Maria hissed through her teeth, another roll of pain went through her body. Elliot continued to stay by her side as the doctor and nurse prepared the do an ultrasound on the location of her pain.

Placing his hand on her forehead and softly shushing her, Stabler watched the screen of the ultrasound as Maria looked away, her mind going blank with exhaustion and fear. What she didn't hear was the sound of a heart beat that wasn't her's.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my creation. All others belong to Law and Order: SVU. I actually did this ahead of time since I just needed to do it and get it out so I can actually focus on chapters before this one.**

"What?" Maria asked, her voice going up several notches. "No, no. I can't be pregnant not to mention, in labor! You have got to have the wrong test results!" She questioned with a squeak in her voice. She tried to sit up and glance at the results on the clipboard, but fell back when sharp pain stabbed at her side.

The doctor sighed slightly, suddenly realizing she didn't know she had been pregnant for the past nine months. "No, I'm very positive these are your test results. The ultra sound we did proves you are pregnant and what happened in the restroom at work was your water breaking." She closed her eyes and groaned in disbelief. She couldn't believe what was happening. "Do you have a husband or a family member who can be here with you?"

"I have my fiance, but I have no idea if he knows or not at this moment in time." She whispered quietly, remembering John all of a sudden. "Oh, shit. What is he going to think of this is beyond me."

Before the doctor could say anything, a nurse knocked on the door and said, "There's a John Munch out here looking for Ms. Frank. What me to let him in?"

The doctor nodded and John rushed in, his face pale with worry and concern. Taking her hand and seeing how uncomfortable she looked with dealing with contractions and pain, he looked up at the doctor and asked, "Is it true she's...?" He stopped when he couldn't say it. He nodded and John's heart dropped. He suddenly felt sick to his stomach for the unborn child and for Maria. "What do we do now?"

"Well, she's in heavy labor now and since she didn't know she's expecting, we need to get everything prepared for anything that happens during delivery. Your contractions are every five minutes now and you're only five centimeters dilated. When she's dilated ten centimeters, that's when the baby comes." Walking over to the door, he said, "A nurse will be checking on you every few minutes and checking to see how you're doing, check the baby's heart-rate and how much longer we'll have to wait. Have any questions or concerns, don't be shy to ask."

Left alone in the room, John continued to stare at the door with shock and awe at was happening. Much to his knowledge, Maria just wanted to strangle him. Softly yelping when she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down, she hissed, "I hate you," as another contraction ripped through her body.

Nervously chuckling, he gently pried her fingers from his shirt. "I love you, too," was all he could say as she groaned in discomfort and held her breath for another contraction. She reached out again to hiss at him, but he kept away just in case. From past experiences, he knew when she was in pain to keep the hell away or she'd bite back. Grabbing a nurse's attention, he asked, "Would it be possible to give her pain medication to make this birthing process a little more easier for both our sakes?"

She nodded and headed to glance at her file before getting the right dose of pain killers. Walking back into the room with his hands in his pockets, he glanced at Maria and noticed she was glaring at the far wall. "I didn't know, John." She started with a tint of anger in her voice. "If I had known, I would have said something to you at the very beginning."

"I just can't wrap my head around it, Mar. When Olivia came to get me at our apartment, I thought for sure you had been shot! How the Hell to you think I feel knowing the woman I've loved and been using protection with ends up in the bathroom floor with fluid coming out of her!" His voice raised a notch, noticing her glaring eyes piercing through his body. "I don't get it. I...can't grasp want's happening here and now we're going to be parents!"

"At this moment in time, I would rather be recovering from being shot since I know how to deal with that!" She gestured with her hand. "How do you think I was feeling when I felt my water break in the bathroom? I'm scared, John...I'm scared because I don't know what we're going to find when this child comes out. Is it going to have Downs Syndrome? I don't know! Is it going to have medical difficulties? I don't fuckin' know!"

Munch froze for a minute, seeing tears gathering in her eyes. "You're scared for the baby." She nodded her head, her green eyes still glaring at him. "So, you're not angry at me?"

"Of course not. I'm in pain at the moment with each contraction that rolls through my body. You know I'm not angry at you when I'm in pain. You know I love children so much I would not risk the life of a fetus if we were to not terminate it." He tilted his head slightly in confusion. She stared at him for the longest time until it hit her. "You think I knew, don't you?"

Sighing, he walked over and sat down on the bed carefully. Avoiding making eye contact with her, he admitted, "Yes." Feeling her lean back against the pillows, he looked at her left hand where the IV was. "Growing up, I always figured all women would know they were carrying a child. Sure, I can understand a woman with weight to them not knowing right away, but they would have to know at some point."

"Well, I didn't know until now. I didn't know it was my water breaking in the department bathroom. I thought it was just...I thought something was medically wrong with me and I freaked out. Olivia came into the stall where I was and asked me if I was pregnant. I told her no. Next Elliot came in and kept talking about my water breaking and breathing, but I didn't hear him and next thing I knew, I'm in the ambulance and holding his hand with each contraction." Maria took his hand and waited until he looked up at her. "I see where you're coming from, baby, but at the same time, I'm scared shitless here."

Smiling slightly when his fingers brushed her hair away from her face, she said, "I'm sorry I told you I hated you earlier."

"I know you didn't mean it. From what I've seen on television, all women in labor blame the men." He smiled when she chuckled and placed his hand on her abdomen. "I wonder how big it is."

She shrugged and inhaled a slow breath. "I don't know. I keep thinking it's going to be small consider I'm not showing, but at the same time, it might just be a decent sized infant." She placed her hand over his and they linked fingers. "We have nothing to care for a child, John."

He knew where she was going with this and shook his head sternly. "I can't give it up, Mar. It has the Munch genes running through its veins." He shook his head again, not wanting to give it up. "I can't do that. We've seen the bad side of the system and how screwed up it is with placing children in foster care anyway. I don't want to risk that with _our _child. I can dip into my two pensions to get everything we need to care for it and I can find a proper home outside of the city to raise it. I'll do anything and everything to provide for you and this child, Maria."

Sadly smiling at how quickly he jumped to care for her and this infant, she touched his face and said, "Okay. If you don't want to give it up, then I don't want to. Having a child isn't going to be easy for our relationship, though. It'll put a lot of stress on us and it's not going to be easy for us."

"We've had a lot of stress throughout our relationship and we've worked it out one way or another, right?" She nodded her head slowly. "I know it won't be easy, but we can do it, love." He leaned down and kissed her softly. "You were able to do it when Scott, though," he reminded her as he helped her roll onto her side to rub her back calmly.

"Yes, but I knew I was expecting Scott. I didn't want to terminate a fetus when I knew the father was you, so I started thinking about adoption. When I had the c-section and they showed him to me, I couldn't give him up." Maria sighed and rested her head on his lap, feeling his hand firmly rubbing her lower back to help ease the discomfort of contractions. After a few minutes, she groaned and mumbled, "I can't stay in this position, John. I'm sorry, but I just can't." She struggled to sit up and move into a different position, but her discomfort was too unbearable to move properly.

John thought for a moment and grabbed Maria's nurse's attention. "Can it be possible for her to be on her hands and knees to help with her back pain?"

She nodded and answered, "She can do that in between checking the fetus's heartbeat, of course. Would she also like an epidural? That will take care of any pain she's feeling."

"Thank you." Munch turned back to Maria and helped her onto her hands and knees for the time being. "The nurse is going to give you an epidural to help with the pain and check the infant's heartbeat as well once you're back on your back." She nodded her head and grimaced. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"I don't know," She answered as she squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the sheets under her hands. "How about pulling the curtain and taking this hospital gown off. It's weight is pretty much nothing, but feels so tight against me." Frank turned her head to watch him pull the curtain so no one would see her bare to the world right when opening the door. Feeling John undoing the ties on her back and slowly easing it from her body, she let out a sigh to the feel of the air hitting her sweating flesh and showed a small smile. "Cool air against sweat just feels so good sometimes."

Sitting back down on the bed and running his hands up and down her back to relieve tension, Munch kissed the back of her neck and whispered, "Can you feel anything going on in your body? Can you feel the baby?"

"Now that you ask, I can feel something. Maybe it's kicking?" She turned her head to look at him and observed him reaching around and placing his hand gently on her lower abdomen. "Feel anything?"

"Yeah, I do!" He couldn't contain his excitement as he felt what was possibly their unborn child kicking and noticed she did look different now that she was fully undressed and in labor; her stomach was indeed a bit bigger and her breasts certainly looked fuller and thicker. "You do look different, too. I never noticed this before now."

Maria chuckled and paid attention to his fingers going back to firmly rubbing her back, feeling the tension easing up. "We thought it was just stress. Imagine if this was a planned pregnancy, hun. I'd be as big as a hippo, which is what I felt like when I was expecting Scott."

"A hippo? No, you were not. I've photos of you expecting and you looked beyond gorgeous," He complimented with a smile, remembering the glowing smile on her face when she was in her eighth month. "Your smile just added to your beauty."

"you're a real gentleman, John."

"It's true!" His laugh rang through the room and moved his hands to rubbing her hips and thighs, feeling her muscles spazzing from a contraction, hearing her groan from it. "Take a few deep breaths, baby." She inhaled a deep and slow breath and slowly released it, her eyes closed as she concentrated on his hands and voice. "Very good. Just keep taking in those breaths and focus on my voice."

Softly chuckling while exhaling another breath, Maria turned her head slightly to look at him. "For someone who's never been there for a woman to give birth, you certainly know about the deep breathing part."

"Everyone says it in the movies," He explained with a smile, rubbing her hips in firm circles. "The nurse is going to be bringing you an epidural pretty soon to help with the pain." At that exact moment, they heard a knock at the door and John peered about the curtain to see two smiling nurses. "Yes?"

One glanced down at her clipboard and asked, "We're here to do a few tests with Maria Frank and make sure she's ready for an epidural." John motioned for them to come in and helped Maria to a sitting position on the bed, placing her gown back on. Both women shook Frank's hand and began explaining what they were going to need to do. "We need to draw some blood, get some fluids going before it's set in place and check the fetus's heart rate prior before the catheter is in place. Once the epidural is in, we'll have to give you a urinary catheter since you won't be feeling if you need to go or not, unless you'd like a walking epidural."

"What's that?" John asked, sitting down on the bed to give them his full attention.

The older nurse explained, "It's an epidural that still allows for her to be able to walk around while not feeling the painfulness of the contractions. If she can't sit still anymore or wants to walk around, she'll still be able to do that."

Maria thought it over for a moment and finally said, "If I can have it done, can I have that?"

"Certainly. Let us just do some tests and make sure you and the fetus are up for it and we'll get back to you about getting it done." The younger one replied with a smile, politely asking for John to move and observe from a few feet away. Full of curiosity about what they were doing, John watched their every move with observing eyes and kept an eye on Maria as well. He watched the nurses lay her done gently on her back with the fetal monitor on her stomach and hearing a heartbeat from the computer as they measured the fetus's heart rate. Hearing for the first time, he contain his smile and felt like an anxious five year old bouncing up and down on the balls of his heels.

As soon as they had started, they were done with a viral of blood to test, fluids running through Maria's system and the fetus's heart rate strong. "Shouldn't be much longer now," John finally said after a few minutes as they waited. "Once the epidural is in, does that mean you'll be more comfortable?"

She shrugged slightly, closing her eyes for a moment. "I hope so. Might even get me a chance to actually close my eyes and get a little bit of rest." Feeling the bed dip slightly and seeing Munch had sat down beside her, she gave him a small smile and slipped her hand into his. "Does that mean I have to lay back on my side for it?" She asked, gripping John's hand as another contraction started up again.

He shrugged gently. "Maybe. I don't really know, though." He turned his head to see both Maria's labor and delivery nurses with an anesthesiologist behind them and covered her with her hospital gown. "Is she good to get an epidural?"

He nodded and looked over her file. "Looks good. Her blood tests came out clean and the IV has already been set into her arm when she was admitted. Hope you're not hungry, Maria, since you won't be able to eat or drink anything once the epidural is given."

She shifted carefully into a sitting position and held the gown to her chest as John helped it back on. "I'm fine. Just so long as this pain can be eased and make this easier for me, I'll do anything." Frank looked in John's direction and thought for a second. "Can he stay?"

"Sure." The younger man nodded in John's direction and Munch's shoulders relaxed. "Is there a comfortable position you'd like to be in for this procedure?"

"Nothing's really comfortable at this point, so what ever works best for you is fine by me." Maria explained, shaking her head slightly. "I don't mind the discomfort, but I want the contraction pains to ease up for me."

He nodded and motioned for a nurse to pull the curtain back to giving them privacy. "All right. First, lets get you laying on your left side and curl up to give me a better view of your spine." The anesthesiologist walked to stand behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder as Frank began to move to lay back down.

John, moving to his knees to stay at her eyesight level, held her hand firmly in his and gave her a weak smile when he eyes glanced up to his. He listened carefully as the doctor gently spoke to her about what he was doing and used his other hand to gently stroke through Maria's dark hair to calm her. When Maria felt the prick of a needle numbing the area where the epidural catheter was going, she exhaled a very slow breath and struggled to not move closer to John for comfort. She was now feeling scared about what was happening to her and Munch sensed it. Leaning down and pressing his forehead against her's, his fingers moved to stroke her cheek and whispered, "Shhhh. I'm right here for you, sweetheart."

"I'm scared," She whispered back, closing her eyes and held his hand closer to her face.

"I know you're scared. I'm scared for both you and the unborn fetus, too." He whispered softly, pressing his lips against her temple. Munch lifted his head and softly said to the nurse, "She's a little scared now. Can we have a wet cloth so I can place it against her forehead?" She nodded and quietly went to retrieve a wet washcloth as the other nurse placed her hand on Maria's waist and gently talked to her. Taking the wet cloth from the returning nurse's hand, John placed it against her forehead and rested chin on her shoulder, watching the doctor work. "Is it going to hurt putting it in?"

The doctor raised his eyes and gave a slight tilt of the head. "It depends on how uncomfortable she's going to be with laying in this position while having contractions. We're going to go as slow as possible if she begins to become visibly emotional to keep her comfortable. Just tell us when she begins to be visibly emotional and I'll pause to allow her to relax."

John nodded his head and looked down to see Maria was breathing slowly with the cloth against her. "Did you hear that, sweetheart?" She gave a small nod and held onto his hand with both of her's. "Just tell me when you start to feel uncomfortable and I'll relay it to them." Munch returned to stroking her cheek gently as the doctor finished with his test epidural and began to put the real one in.

Maria laid as still as she could as she felt a contraction ripe through her body once more. Gripping his hand firmly with both hands and groaning softly, she felt him move closer to the hospital bed and press his cheek up against her's, shushing her gently. "I'm so scared, John."

"I know you are. I am, too," He replied softly. "Keep breathing normally and let the pain ease up in a few minutes."

Concentrating on his voice and from how close he was to her, Frank began to feel the effect of the epidural and gradually released her hold on his hand. Within another minute, her entire body relaxed and the hovering pain from her latest contraction began to ease. The doctor placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "All done. Just going to tape this into place and you'll be able to walk around a little and get some rest."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*

"You should call your mother and let her know what's going on." An hour after receiving her epidural and having a catheter placed in as a precaution, Maria Frank was finally comfortable enough to lay on her side or another other position to help the fetus to move into a birthing position and lay on her back to be checked how dilated she had become. From the time she had been placed in the hospital and the time after the epidural was placed in, she had moved up from five to seven centimeters. The downside was the contractions were much closer together and Maria was able to feel the discomfort when they came.

Raising his eyes from staring down at his twiddling thumbs and giving the suggestion a thought, he removed his glasses and rubbed his fingers against his eyes. He was starting to feel the exhaustion from waiting and worrying. "Should I really drop this on her lap with no warning? 'Hey, Mom. It's me. Maria's in the hospital and in labor with my child we didn't know she was carrying. Oh, and I hope you were sitting down for that news.' Yeah, that will be great for her to hear."

Wrapping her arms around an extra pillow, extending an arm out and waving her fingers to get his full attention, she gave him a small smile. "C'mon. She needs to know she has a grandchild on the way. I know she's giving Bernie's little girl a lot of spoiling attention and all, but she will be thrilled to know her oldest baby is going to be a father. At this rate - and the way you're acting - we are going to be keeping one way or another, no matter what unknown surprise is coming our way."

Munch reached his hand out and took a hold of her hand in his. "I just don't want to scare her with this kind of information. Hell, I emailed her last week and attached recent pictures of us to her and you are certainly not looking like your expecting in those. She's going to blow a gasket and think I gave her older photographs." He exhaled a slow breath and groaned slightly, sliding down in his seat. "What till Bernie hears about this."

Giving his fingers a squeeze and running her thumb along his index finger, Frank whispered, "Just do it, babe. For me?"

"Okay," he finally admitted, giving her hand a firm squeeze and reaching for his coat to get his phone. "I'm going to step right outside the door and give her a call. Need anything, just holler, 'kay?"

"I will," She gave his hand a squeeze and listened to the door open and close as he walked out for a moment. Placing her hand on her stomach when she felt something moving around deep inside her, Maria closed her eyes and exhaled a heavy sigh. "When are you going to show yourself, little one?" She asked quietly. "I still can't believe this is happening."

* * *

Two hours later:

Grasping her hand firmly in his, Maria groaned deep in her throat as John continued to encourage her to keep pushing as the doctor coaxed her until he said stop. "Everything okay?" John asked, looking up for a moment to see the doctor's eyebrows furrowed for a second - his heart skipped a beat.

"Everything's okay, John. Just need to get this fluid out of its mouth and make sure the cord isn't around the neck before we continue." The doctor answered gently, slipping his fingers between the baby's neck and Maria's body. "There's a lot of dark hair on the baby's head, if you want to see," he offered and chuckled when John gave him a quizzical look. "I mean it. You can come over here and see your infant's head."

Thinking it over, Munch decided against it when he thought about how much pain Frank was have been in if she didn't have the epidural. "I-I don't think I can actually, doc." He grasped Maria's hand when the doctor nodded in understand and began coaxing her to beginning again. Placing his free hand on her forehead to push back dark hair from her sweaty forehead, Munch frowned slightly and requested for a cold wet cloth to cool her down.

Taking it from the nurse who soaked it for a few minutes for him, he placed it on her forehead and she eyes opened from the sudden cold sensation. "This is so uncomfortable, John," Maria confessed as she inhaled a heavy breath to steady the shaking in her legs and torso. I'm scared, too."

Shushing her gently and kissing her forehead, he brushed away hair that was stuck to her neck and pressing the cloth to cool her down some more. "It's going to be okay, Maria. Just breath for me. Breath." Watching her inhale steady and even breathes, he slowly nodded and he kissed her fingers, switching hands to allow blood to flow back in his fingers. She had been pushing for twenty minutes and was showing exhaustion already. If she was no longer able to push, the doctor would have to move to something more drastic to get the youngster out.

Closing her eyes for a moment to calm her breathes, Maria looked up at John with uncertainty in her eyes. "I'm so fuckin' scared, John, and this hurts so fuckin' much."

"I know, sweetheart. Just a little longer, okay?" She nodded and began pushing again when the doctor asked her to. Holding her hand with both of his, he encouraged her to continue pushing. Seeing tears running down her cheeks, he wiped them away with a tissue and kissed her fingers. "You're doing really well, sweetie. Just a few more pushes."

"And one shoulder is out," The doctor announced, sucking the fluid from its mouth and nose. "Just need to get past the second shoulder and we'll have a baby." He looked up and grinned under his mask at Maria, who was smiling through her tears of discomfort. "Keep pushing. Keep pushing," He coaxed her until it was out and he handed it to the waiting nurse. "Good job, Maria. Very good job."

John watched the nurse carry it over to be checked over, the tiny cries reaching his ear. "What is it?"

"It's a boy and he's a decent sized boy at that," The doctor smiled under his mask once more and looked back down. "How about we deliver the placenta and get you settled while they check him over."

John didn't hear anything else as he watched the nurses clean the infant up and his cries growing louder made John's heart fly above the clouds. Maria grasping his hand as she began passing the placenta brought him back down to earth and noticed she was looking in the same direction. "I guess that's why I was craving chocolate and cheese sticks." She commented through her tears, watching a little fist swing in the air as he cried from being thrust from a warm area to a cold surrounding.

"I guess so." John whispered. Turning to the doctor, he asked, "Doc, besides not having prenatal care, could you check him for," He paused for a moment to find his voice. It scared him for a moment of what the baby could have. "Check him for fetal alcohol syndrome, Down Syndrome, Tay Sachs, and anything else you can think of."

"Sure," He replied. "Do either of you know if Tay Sachs is in your family linage?"

"My parents were carriers of it." Maria explained and added, "I had a little sister die from it."

He nodded. "Okay, we can do that. It's going to take a while so we're going to take him to the Neonatal room, do some tests, check him over, and we'll bring him over when done. It would be best to also breast feed him as soon as we return him to you."

* * *

Maria Frank sat up in the hospital bed with her legs slightly crossed as John sat beside her, deep in thought. They were both scared to death of what - if any - problems were found with the infant she just had. She was lost in her thoughts as she thought back to her late sister, Hannah, and her late son, Scott and what they both went through when they died. Hannah had suffered from Tay Sachs and, when Maria was only ten years old, she died a painful death at five years old. Scott suffered from pneumonia at the age of four and passed away in her arms after weeks of fighting it. Both young children died fighting for survival and lost that battle. She didn't fully understand Hannah's death when it happened, but it was Scott's death that had driven her almost to being a fully blown alcoholic.

Silent tears had traveled John's cheeks moments ago when he thought back to his Uncle Andrew and his mental health. Once it came to light, Maria had promised she would take care of John if his mental health went downhill as well. What scared him was, if this child had mental health issues, would he be able to watch his own son suffer through it? If he did everything he could to keep him comfortable, he probably would be able to. He prayed the infant didn't have Tay Sachs for Maria's sake. She had suffered so much loss when it came to children and he truly hoped, wished and prayed he didn't have it. He never had himself tested and Scott was lucky he didn't have it or carried in, considering Maria's family history. If he had Down Syndrome or learning disabilities, they would manage and find ways to work around his troubles.

Several hours after giving birth, a nurse knocked on the door and they both looked up for some good news. "There's somebody who wants to see you two," She happily announced and carried in the infant. "A clean bill of health, too. No diseases, illnesses and all ten fingers and toes."

They breathed a sigh of relief and Maria held her arms out for the nurse to place him in. "Hello there, little guy," She looked down at him and he stared up at her, blinking heavily from the ceiling lights. "How much does he weigh?"

"He weighs seven pounds and eight ounces and is twenty-one point five inches long."

John whistled, moving to sit on the bed to look at him. "You are one big baby, huh?" He asked with a grin. Holding his hands out, Maria carefully placed him in his arms and positioned his left arm in the correct position. For the first time in a long time, John was beaming with pride at just holding his new son and couldn't contain his happiness. "He looks like me, doesn't he?"

Maria nodded and touched the newborn's fine dark hair. "Dark hair, long fingers and possibly long arms and legs...he's a mini you, John." The baby whimpered slightly and John gently rocked him until he stopped. "Looks like you're a natural at this."

"Well, from watching other people for years, it's easy to get after a while." He whispered, watching the infant's eyes shut and slip off to sleep. Hearing the nurse leave them alone for a little while, Munch brought up, "He does need a name."

"We need clothes, diapers and a crib, too." Maria added, watching John place the infant on the bed in front of her and they slowly pulled apart the blanket to look at him. The nurse had raised the heat in the room just in case the baby stayed in the room with them. Running her fingers along his arms and belly, she grinned to herself. "He's just like Scott, except bigger and longer." John raised his dark eyebrows and looked at her. "Just enough baby fat, dark hair, big eyes, your ears and nose, and an expressive face to boot."

John grinned and gently touched his little hand and the newborn opened his eyes with a whimper, looking at his new beaming parents. "What does he look like?"

"Well, I don't know. Say a name and let's see if it fits him." He tilted his head in confusion. "I did that with Scott and the name fit him after I went down a list of boy names and I am not going to accept John Jr. as a suitable name." She said, pointing her finger at him with a smile.

"Just as long as you don't dress him up in a sailor outfit with a matching hat."

"If I go insane, I may end up doing that, so don't turn your back on him for too long." She laughed and then winced, pushing her abdomen muscles too far. "The pain was worth it, I swear it is." She grimaced with a pained smile.

Moving to get a better look at the infant, he thought of various names and asked, "David?"

"Hmm...doesn't look like a David."

"Mitchell?"

"What?" She looked at John with grin. "Mitchell?"

Munch shrugged with a cocky smile and laughed when she playfully smacked him. "Worth a shot. Um...how about Ben? Benjamin?"

Looking down at the sleeping baby and saying the name to herself, Maria grinned and said, "Benjamin Marcus Munch... I love it." Wrapping the infant back up in the blanket and cradling him close to her chest, she kissed his forehead. "Hello, Ben. You're the one that was causing me all this pain today."

"The squad is going to want to meet him, you know." John reached a hand out and touched Ben's fine dark hair. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted his cell phone and sighed. "I should call them though so they know you're okay. You're going to nurse him while I step out to place some calls?"

Maria nodded as she shifted the blankets and then the hospital gown. "Yeah, I should. Mind pulling the curtain so I don't have to expose myself to the whole world?" John walked over to pull the curtain to give her privacy and headed out into the hall to place some calls. Tugging down her hospital gown and moving a pillow onto her lap, Frank carefully picked up the baby as he began to cry with hunger and positioned him to nurse. "C'mon now. I know you sucked your thumb while in the womb, so this should be a piece of cake for you." She playfully whispered as she tickled his bottom lip and he latched on. "Ow! Okay, that hurt," Maria winced and laid her head back on the pillow as exhaustion started taking over.

Shaking her head to stay awake a little longer, she looked down at the infant and noticed his big eyes were looking in her direction as he nursed. She chuckled and tucked his blanket around him a little more. "Hello, Ben. Do you know you have your father's shifty eyes?" He blinked up at her as if responding. "Hell, you could pass as a mini me for him." Touching his fine hair when he paused for a moment, Ben closed his eyes in content and in the safety of his mother.

John quietly peered around the curtain to watch Maria softly talking to their son as he nursed, his phone next to his ear. "Hey, El. It's me. Maria's just fine and we have a surprise addition to our small family."

_"No kidding!"_

"Yep. A bouncing baby boy we've named Ben." He slowly walked down the hallway with one hand in his pocket and keeping to one side for oncoming nurses and doctors. "The problem is we have nothing when we can take him home; no crib, diapers, clothes...nothing, El. I was wondering if you could help us?" He asked carefully, not fully knowing what Stabler would think with being asked for help.

_"Sure, I don't mind helping. Um...we can loan you Eli's crib and other supplies we have. How's Maria doing?"_

"She looks exhausted more then anything," He explained quietly as he made his way back to the room and peered around the curtain. She was struggling to keep her eyes open and hold the baby in her arms at the same time. "I want her to get some rest, but she nursing him and that might take a while since they had kept him for several hours for tests."

_"Healthy as can be?"_

"Sure is." John smiled when she looked up and noticed him standing there. "He looks just like me, too."

Elliot laughed. _"Well, that's good to know! At least we know she's not being a bad girl and sleeping around." _He joked, knowing John would take it as a joke.

"Haha, very funny, El." He grinned into the voice. "I'm not sure when Maria or Ben will be released, so I'll call you when I know."

_"Works for me. Give me a call ahead of time and I can fish out our extra car seat."_

Giving his thanks and ending the call, he quietly walked into the room just as Maria readjusted her hospital gown. "All done are we?" He asked, slipping back down in the chair.

She nodded and placed the baby against her shoulder, patting his back. "He drinks fast and hard, like he wants to finish quickly."

Removing his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes, Munch slowly exhaled and almost jumped when he heard a sound. "Did he just burp or am I hearing things?" Maria chuckled and pointed to the infant who was still on her shoulder, his tiny fist near her neck as he felt around, his sleepy eyes looking around his surroundings. "Does it hurt nursing him?"John asked with concern in his voice. He hated seeing her in pain and the thought of her nursing him for the first time causing some pain worried him.

"It did a little, but I'll just get used to it after a while," She shifted her hold of him and leaned back against the raised part of the bed. "Getting 'excited' by all this?" She asked, noticing he was looking a little too interested.

"No, just interested and curious." He leaned in a little more and Maria carefully handed him Ben. Taking the now sleeping infant from her arms, John leaned back slowly to get comfortable and made sure Ben was comfortable. Next to him, Frank was struggle to stay awake. "Why don't you get some sleep? Nothing's going to happen to Ben while I'm holding him."

"I know. I just...I can't stop watching him and I don't want to fall asleep unless something spectacular happens." She explained while trying to sit up once more, with a hint of exhaustion in her voice.

"Mar, he's only two hours old. Do you really think he's going to walk and talk as soon as you fall asleep?" He asked in a low voice as to not wake the child. "Just get some sleep and I'll use the call button if I need the nurse."

Finally agreeing to get some needed rest, Maria closed her eyes and was out like a light within a few minutes. Shifting his attention to the baby in his arms, Munch crossed his right leg over his left. Running his fingers along his tiny fingers and face, the infant squished his face and opened his big eyes slowly. Blinking in the low light and whimpering a little, John gently shushed him and softly talked to him. "Hey, let's not cry now. Your poor mother is exhausted thanks to not knowing you were coming, little guy." As if understanding, Ben calmed down and wrapped his tiny fingers around one of John's.

It was like a turning point for John once he did that. Trying to not become emotional and wake Maria, he inhaled a breath to steady his nerves. "Know what I'm going to do? I'm going to teach you how to play basketball and I'll be there for you during times when my father wasn't. Your mother...she's going to take better care of you then her own parents could. I promise we'll be there for anything and everything you need."

As if he understood, Ben opened his eyes and released his finger. The infant looked up at John and continued to stare up at him as if he was taking in everything Munch had said. "You look a lot like me, do you know that?" Ben blinked a few times and he chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you do now." He gently caressed the infant's cheek with a finger and pressed his lips to his tiny forehead. "I love you, Ben."

**To be continued...**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben are my own creation, with thanks to a friend for helping with getting him a name. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU.**

Two days later:**  
**

"Now, I know it's here somewhere," Elliot sighed, moving several boxes aside in the attic. "When Kathy had the twins, we ended up having to get double of nearly everything for Elizabeth and Dickie." He reached near the back of the attic and gave a triumphant yell. "Hey! Here we go."

John walked in the direction of his voice and watched him pull up a perfectly cared for car seat, it's neutral colors blending perfect together. "This is perfect, El." He took it from his hands and looked it over. "I can't thank you enough for this and everything else you're doing for us."

Stabler shook his head with a smile. "Hey, what friends are for and you two need what is needed for Ben's care. How is he doing?"

"He's doing great. They gave him his first shot, we had him circumcised last night and he took it like a trooper, and Maria's been talking with a lactating specialist since she needed some help." John answered, placing the car seat next to a changing table they had found earlier. "It's been years since she had Scott and her mothering instincts seem to have disappeared since he passed away, so both of us are going to be learning from this." He paused for a moment to look around at the boxes and various furniture placed in certain locations. "Who knew it was still possible, El."

"What?"

"At my age and still able to father a child. Who knew my body was still able to do something like that and for Maria's body to be able to do something like carrying a child."

Elliot held up his hand. "And not know about it. Any idea of when he was conceived?"

Munch shook his head slowly, scratching the back of his head. "I honestly don't know. It could have been the night of my retirement party, week before or the week after."

"Damn, John," Elliot shook his head, chuckling. "You get more action then I normally get."

John grinned and said, "We use protection."

"Except it didn't work this time," El teased and earned a hard look from John. "Well it's true!" He laughed with his arms out, finally getting a smile from his friend. "C'mon, John. You know, this little guy is going to be a great addition to your very small family and will give you something to do with the freedom of retirement." He handed out an extra stroller.

Munch agreed with a nod of his head and took it from his hands. "It's more like I'm still in shock over this and I'm worried about how good of a father I can be." He admitted, showing he was actually scared and worried. "I'm glad Ben's healthy and Maria's healthy, too. But...I want to provide for the both of them and give them both the care and support they need.I can certainly dip into my two pensions - Maria can dip into her's when she retires - but do you think that's really enough? Can I do more then just that?"

Stabler slowly sighed, seeing where he was coming from. Motioning for him to sit down and take a few breaths to calm down. "John, I know where you are coming from. When Kathy was pregnant for the first time, it _scared _the shit out of me because I was unsure if I could provide for both of wife and baby. You know what I did? I told a few friends about my issues and they offered to help with anything possible. I was _so _overwhelmed when she finally had my first daughter and with everything we needed of furniture, clothes, diapers, and so on...I wanted to pick up two more jobs just to make myself feel more comfortable."

"What did your friends do to help?"

"They offered to set up the furniture, pick up a few extra diapers, had a friend's wife watch the baby so Kathy could get some sleep while I was working and brought over a few meals for us to save us from having to cook for a few days." Elliot watched John nod as he stared at the floor. "In other words, we are willing to help you and Maria for the first few months or even a year to keep up with everything that comes your way since Ben was born unexpectedly."

Munch nodded again, this time with a small smile on his features. "Thanks, man. Maria would really appreciate it."

* * *

Olivia Benson continued to walk around the hospital room, cradling Ben in her arms. "My God, he is a beautiful boy." She commented for the sixth time since arriving to see him. After watching Maria Frank change his diaper and dress him back up in his own hospital clothes, Benson offered to take him off her hands to rock and cradle him. "The wonder of the Frank and Munch genetics at its best!"

Maria chuckled and sat up, crossing her legs loosely under her. After getting a good rest after the first night, she ordered John to go home, take a shower and get some rest. He partially followed her orders; he returned to the hospital after taking a shower to sleep next to her bed in the recliner. That evening, they made the decision to have him circumcised and it was done promptly by a doctor and nurse and was instructed how to clean around the incision. "I'm glad he came out healthy and happy. He swung a little fist at the nurse who was cleaning him up, showing he's a tough little guy." They laughed, waking the infant and causing him to cry. "Oh, my. Here, give him over here," Maria held her arms out and Liv placed him gently in them.

"Didn't mean to laugh too loudly," Benson apologized softly, sitting down on the bed.

Frank shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about. John sneezed last night while I was nursing him and he practically jumped out of his skin and began to cry. He was so far in his own zen state, it scared him bad enough he cried." She began to rock him gently and softly coax him to calm down. "It's okay, Ben. It's okay." For the next few moments, Ben cried his eyes out, showing his gums to the world as tears trailed down his cheeks. His tiny hands were clenched shut and shook with each breath he took, held tightly to his chest and held his legs close to his body as if curling up in a ball.

After a while, Maria moved to sit up straighter and changed the position she was holding him, hoping it would calm him down. Placing him on her shoulder, she patted his back and slightly swayed, shushing him patiently with her eyes closed. Five minutes later, he calmed down and closed his eyes slowly, falling back to sleep in his mother's arms. Benson grinned in amazement. "Well, look at that. You're natural when it comes to putting him back to sleep."

"Sorta. This was just pure luck. Next time? We won't be so lucky," She chuckled softly, looking up to see John and Elliot return. "Find what you were looking for?" Both men nodded and walked in quietly. "Please tell me the extra car seat isn't pink and girly." Frank made a face that was part wincing and part smiling.

Munch shook his head and reached out to touch his son's hand. "No, it's neutral colors; black, white, beige, tan and silver. It goes _fashionably _well with my car." He peered at her over his glasses and smiled.

"Cool. What else did you boys find?"

"Found the Bassinet Eli outgrew. Didn't want to give you Elizabeth's old one since it's all girly colors. This one is yellow, green, violet and blue and should fit perfectly in your bedroom. Ready to set up the changing table in your place, the stroller is in John's trunk and a few baby clothes that Ben will outgrow within a week at the least." Maria nodded, liking what they had so far. "All's really left is diapers and gift cards in case you need several things. When he's older, we have a high chair to loan and a crib once he outgrows the Bassinet."

Maria happily smiled, showing she was beyond thrilled. "You are the best, El. You have no idea how much weight is off my shoulders now that we have the furniture."

He waved it off, knowing it was very important for the two. Holding his hands out, Maria carefully handed Stabler the sleeping infant and he observed him over. "He is a handsome little guy, I will say." John motioned for him to take a seat and he took it, checking over the baby. "Let's see...I see brilliance, smarts, a wicked sense of humor and inherited conspiracy theories in his blood. When are you two released from the hospital?"

"They're planning for both of us to be released tomorrow at the latest. They just want to make sure I'm not going to have any drawbacks from giving birth, supervised nursing every now and then to make sure he's taking to it well and make sure Ben's one hundred percent healthy. They drew blood last night before he was 'snipped' and came back normal. As long as he's healthy and happy, I'm good." Maria explained, wincing slightly as she shifted her sitting position. "So far, the only pain I'm feeling is my lower muscles and my breasts are tender from nursing. He feeds like there is no tomorrow."

Munch reached for a heating pad he brought from their place and handed it to her. "We have the car seat installed - all thanks to Elliot since I'm too 'old' to get it right - and tomorrow is going to be thrilling since we need to rearrange the bedroom to accommodate his needs and finish getting clothes, diapers, bottles and whatever the hell else a baby needs."

Maria softly slapped his arm and scolded. "Language. Gotta want your language around him, John. I don't want him being sent home from school with a letter about questionable language and earning a detection or in school suspensions." He sighed and stopped himself from rolling his eyes before she noticed. "And don't stop yourself from rolling your eyes about this. I had plenty of detentions from my language in school and I am certain you did, too."

"Yeah, right. Sure," He crossed his arms and glanced at her. "Once he hits a certain age and understands where he can use his colorful language," He left it hanging in the air, trying to win her over just enough. She gave him a look that said 'we'll talk about this later' and he secretly grinned. He won the first round.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

The Next Morning

After strapping Ben into the car and helping Maria into the back to watch him, John Munch arrived back at their place just in time to witness Elliot instructing his four older children, all who were carrying various items. "Need any help, El?"

"Oh, no. We have things under control. Just get Maria and Ben inside so they can get settled in." He instructed, watching her slowly exit the car and tried not to wince. "Kathy is already up there and there are some cards waiting for you under the door. Liv, Fin and Marks are on a case and I'm due to leave in about an hour."

Giving their thanks, they headed upstairs at a slow pace for Maria. Once in the comfort of their apartment, John kindly instructed for her to sit down and relax. Elizabeth Stabler, pausing in her effort to get the high chair set up, glanced down at the deeply snoozing Ben and awed. "He's adorable!" She kept her voice low to not wake him. "I didn't catch what dad said about his name. What's his name?"

John grinned and replied, "Benjamin Marcus." He kneeled down and rearranged the blanket draped over him. Since leaving the hospital, he had been nit-picking about how warm or cold his son was. He didn't want to take any chance of him catching a cold or overheating. Something Maria noticed and was going to talk to him about later - after she browsed through baby care books Don had picked up. "What are the cards Elliot told us about?"

"Right here," Elizabeth picked them up off the counter and handed them to him. "Looks like they're from the people you worked with."

Nodding, John glanced at one and noticed it was from Casey Novak. "Hey! Casey found out real quick about the Ben" He told Maria, handing it to her to open. She opened it the white envelope and pulled out a blue and green 'Congratulations' card. "What does it say?"

"It says 'Congrats on your new addition' and she added below 'who knew John had it in him.'" She chuckled and looked over the gift card that had been tucked inside the card. "She's saying what we've all been thinking."

Munch rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Who knew the old Yid had it in him-"

"Hey, now." She scolded him again. "Don't say that. You're not 'old' and you don't say Yid around Stabler's kids or me." She winked at him when he frowned slightly. She knew he was tired, sore and stressing over being a new father who was clueless about caring for a child. Her wink was the settle him down and he did when he cracked a small smile. "Why don't you go see what Kathy's doing and I'll take a chance to close my eyes or relax to the point I do get some rest."

Slowly sighing, he agreed and walked into the bedroom to see Elliot's wife, Kathy, moving a few items around. Off to the side was the Bassinet Ben was going to sleep in until he was old enough for the crib. "Need any help?"

"Umm...yeah. What I'm doing here is moving the dressers a little more closer together to give room for who ever is pacing around and rocking him." Kathy standing on one side of a dresser, John reached for the other side and pulled as she pushed. "There we go." She reached for the bassinet and moved it next to the dressers. "Now, would you like the changing table to be in here or out in the living room area?"

Munch thought for a moment, not really sure where it would be a good place. "Well, I don't know. I'm really unsure of where it should be placed." He scratched his neck, showing he was starting to stress just thinking about it. "Where would you put it?"

Kathy looked away for a moment, deep in thought. "Hm. Well, it would be better to have it in the living room - since your bathroom isn't big enough. If in here, you or Maria could wake the other from Ben's cries when changing him."

He nodded in agreement and walked out of the bedroom, seeing Elizabeth kneeling down with a smile. "Is he awake?"

She nodded and reached down to touch his tiny hand. "I remember when Eli was this small. I thought for sure I was going to break him when I first held him." Standing up and walking over to the kitchen, the young Stabler picked up two paper bags and handed them to John. "These are from Olivia. She stopped before you arrived and they're diapers and several baby clothes that he might just outgrow within a week."

Shifting his eyes to glance at Maria with a slight pleading look, John took them from Elizabeth. "Thanks," He said softly as Frank called for Kathy.

"Hey, um, mind if we call it a night? I know it's still-"

Kathy cut her off. "Oh, no. It's fine. Yes, we can leave now and you can call us when you need us." With that, she herded her three daughters out and the three were left alone.

Heavily sighing and sitting down beside Maria, Munch glanced into the bags. "You know, I didn't think I would feel this overwhelmed. I was doing okay with helping Kathy, but when that daughter handed me these," He paused, feeling her hand on the back of his neck. "This is just a little too much in such little time for me."

"I know. I knew that look you gave me was a signal, so I had them leave to give us some space." She firmly worked the muscles in the back of his neck, feeling the tension each time she moved her fingers. "Just relax, take a few deep breaths and think of teaching Ben basketball." He chuckled softly and looked down at Ben, who was trying his best to see them with his eyes.

Or so Munch thought he was. "Wait a minute...he's making a face at me. Is he...?" She nodded and began to stand up, ready to unstrap him from the car seat. "Let me guess, you're going to break in the changing table?"

"Oh, no. Both of us are going to break it in. You, my handsome man, are going to learn how to do this." She carefully picked up Ben and held him to her shoulder. "C'mon. It's really not as hard as you think." Walking over to the changing table, Maria looked around to make sure the wipes, diapers, and other supplies were there. "Alright. So we place him down and, since there are straps on this, we'll just strap him in." She gently but firmly strapped in him down for safety. "Now, come stand where I am," She motioned for Munch to take her stop and began instructing him what to do.

It didn't take John long to learn about changing Ben's diaper, but he gave Frank a look when she told him to make sure Ben's privates were covered or he would be peed upon. "Huh? He just went. Why would he do it again?"

She raised her eyebrows slowly with a cocky smile. "You don't believe me, do you?" He shook his head 'no' and reached for a new diaper after wiping him. Not saying anything else, she watched - with a smile on her face and arms crossed - as John quickly covered Ben's area as a small stream began to appear. Stifling a laugh at the look on John's face, Maria patted his back and said, "I told you, John-boy."

Glancing at her over his lens to see her trying hard not to laugh, he turned his head to see Ben staring up at him, his little arms waving around. "You planned this, didn't you?" He asked softly, his hand on his son's stomach as he tickled him. Ben breathed heavily as it tickled and he wiggled under his father's touch. Maria smiled when Munch smiled down at the baby, noticing he was starting to relax to the idea of caring for him.

Finishing giving him instructions, she watched him snap the buttons on Ben's onesie and carefully lift him up. "Tada! You learned how to change a diaper." She patted his shoulder and grinned when John very carefully bounced the baby just enough to earn a semi-smile - while supporting his head. "He'll learn to smile soon. Once he smiles for the first time, it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy inside."

"It might just. Since he's my official first son, I will be wanting pictures of his firsts." He turned his head, noticing Maria was looking exhausted. "How about laying down and I'll watch him for you."

She shook her head slowly, saying, "How about tucking him in to sleep in the bassinet and we get some sleep. I learned this while raising Scott; when the baby sleeps, the parents sleep." Munch agreed while he patted Ben's back and they waited until he was fast asleep. Slowly and quietly taking him from his arms, Frank wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in the bassinet. "There, now let's get some rest before he wakes up. We can deal with everything else Elliot and the others brought later." She whispered, changing her clothes into something more comfortable.

"Did you check out the rest of the cards we got?"

She nodded, sitting down on the bed. "Yes. Lots of gift cards to Target where I can splurge on onesies and other clothes when he gets older. Coupons on diapers, baby wipes, diaper rash cream and all that good stuff we'll need." Pulling the covers back and getting under then, Maria watched him reach into the bassinet, like he was stroking the baby's hair. "Just don't wake him, John."

John moved to lay down beside her and sighed softly. "I won't wake him. I'd like to get some sleep myself." He cuddled close to her and lightly kissed her neck, earning a certain sigh he hadn't heard in a while. "Course, I wouldn't mind some action to lull me to sleep."

"That's not going to happen, love." Frank shook her head and combed her fingers through his hair. The look on his face showed he didn't understand. Sighing, she explained, "Imagine me shoving a melon up your nose." He winced and made a face. "Yeah. That image hurts, doesn't it?" He nodded and pulled away a little. "Oh, come back here. Just because we can have intimacy for a while doesn't mean we can't cuddle and hold each other." She kissed his lips softly and he relaxed.

"I'm sorry," He apologized softly, pulling her closer to him. "When will you be able to have sex again?"

"Either within six weeks or when I feel comfortable." John groaned and closed his eyes, pressing his face into her neck. "Oh, what's the matter?"

He groaned again and mumbled, "Remember Billie Lou?" She nodded slowly. "Remember me saying she had held sex from me for six weeks before we got married so it could be 'special'? She nodded once again and rubbed her hand up and down his back. "It nearly killed me going that long and she never made any notion of 'taking care' of my pent up tension and energy."

"I'm not going to let you suffer with me on the mend." She chuckled softly when he pulled back to look at her. "I'll take care of you. Either in the shower, while the baby's sleeping, or we can have one of the Stabler kids watch him for a few hours so we can have some free time on our hands. It's going to be a while before we can have some personal time together since the first few weeks are going to be hard for us; very little sleep, no clean dishes or cleans, no or very short showers and other things."

"Sounds like working with SVU again," John commented with a chuckle. He kissed her lightly and laid his head down to sleep. "At least we can get a few hours of sleep."

"Mm-hm," was all Maria said; she was drifting off fast with her arms around John. Little Ben laid fast asleep in his bassinet, breathing deeply.

**To be continued - **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben are my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU.**

John Munch sat at a local bar with Fin at his side, shooting back a few drinks. "I swear, that baby has us well trained like guard dogs."

"How old is he now?" Fin asked, motioning for a refill.

"Three weeks since yesterday," He replied in between two sips to empty his shot glass. "Maria's probably sitting in the rocking chair, rocking Ben to a blissful sleep." Munch had escaped the apartment for some free time with Fin an hour ago. "I did tell her I wasn't going to drink while she was breastfeeding, but she wants to be able to drink when she's not around. She said, 'As long as I don't see you drinking, you can drink all you want. Just don't come home drunk.' And I'm not going to."

Fin nodded, placing his glass on the counter. "You two have a routine set yet?"

"Oh, yes. We take turns taking care of him - except for the nursing bit - throughout the day. If Maria's totally exhausted from the day, I'll get up every time he cries at night and only had him to her if he's hungry. Diapers are a no problem for me anymore and the living room is set up with a pad for tummy time and various toys we found at Target while laying him on his back on the floor. He likes to try and grab a rattle or something that's hanging down above him." He imitated Ben's effort to grab for Fin and they laughed. "He's a good boy and doing very well."

"Did he have his first check-up yet?"

John nodded slowly. "Yes and he's developing very well and Maria's doing extremely well, too. His heart and lungs are perfectly developed. The soft spot on top of his head is closing up just right and his weight is perfect. Couldn't have asked for a more healthier child." He flashed a smile and added, "And he smiled for the first time last night while I was getting him ready for bed!"

Tutoula grinned and toasted Munch. "That's awesome, bro! Big toothless smile?"

"It was a huge toothless smile. I called Mar and she took a picture when I got him to smile again and wrote it down in this journal she's doing. She's keeping track of everything he does to make sure he's developing nicely."

"That's a good thing to do," His dark friend commented, motioning for a refill. "Gonna stay for another drink or are you going to head home?"

Munch reached into his pocket and pulled out a few dollars. "Nah. I gotta get going. I'm going to make dinner and give Maria some free time tonight. Sooner or later, Ben might just start having colic. He's three weeks old and the doctor told us infants can start colic around this age."

Fin made a motion with his hand of a rodeo rope spinning, with a smirk on his face. With a pat to his back, John left and headed home with a light rain falling.

With limited traffic due to the rain and being dark, he made it home in record time and was greeted to the sound of Maria talking to Ben while cutting potatoes. "Hey, I thought I said I would do dinner for tonight," He playfully scolded, kissing her forehead and moving over to play with Ben. "Hey, sport. How are we doing today, huh?" The infant wiggled happily in his infant seat and waved his arms a little, his toothless smile glowing to the world.

Maria turned her head when she heard John laugh and said, "He's been doing good. Been watching mommy work on the potatoes for dinner and waiting for daddy to come home so he can work on the steaks. Haven't we, Ben?" Ben wiggled again happily in his seat and made a cooing sound. "That infant bouncy seat you got works great, by the way. It's deep in the seat part that is seems to put him into a zen-like state."

"Yeah? That's wonderful. I figured you'd like the colors, too. All the ones I saw were bright, fluffy and screamed 'look at me!' in a way, but I like the shades and match everything else he has." He tickled Ben's tummy before walking over and pulling the steaks from the fridge. "Have you had a chance to do tummy time, yet?"

Shaking her head, Frank dropped newly sliced potato pieces into the pot next to her. "No, not yet. I have his play pad all set up in the living room, but I haven't yet. The remnants of his umbilical cord should be falling off soon, though."

"Good! I'm tired of washing around that silly thing," Munch happily replied, working on putting his normal seasonings on the steaks and popped them in the oven. Turning to put the meat packing in the trash and washing his hands, he smiled when Maria undid the straps in the seat and carefully picked up the infant, kissing his cheek. "He's looking more like me every day. Have you noticed that?"

"I have actually." She held his away at arms length and looked him over, earning a toothless smile from him. "I guess he really does. Now I'm going to wonder if he's going to judge and scrutinize how I nurse him." She chuckled and sat down at the table with him sitting on her lap. "Have a good drink with Fin?"

John sat down at the table and grabbed for the paper. "We always do. Talked about Ben, weather, how work is going and our wedding plans since we had an interruption in our thoughts."

"Ben's not an interruption, John." Maria smirked and playfully bounced him, earning various whimpers and coos. "What we did to do is figure out when would be the right time to have the wedding and the very limited chance of having a honeymoon."

"What I was thinking was, instead of a honeymoon, we could have a family vacation with Ben. A honeymoon would result in trusting someone to care for him or being unable to have personal intimate times if he's fussy or having a bad day." Frank tilted her head a little and held Ben closer as he leaned forward to reach something. "Course, we might have to wait until he's a year or over a year older for a vacation. I'm not talking about theme parks or anything like that," He added quickly, seeing a certain look on her face. "What I mean is like staying at a cabin near a lake or staying at a resort with a pool."

Sighing in relief at his suggestions, Frank nodded and thought it over quickly. "That does sound like a good idea actually. If that works out for both of us, we may have to get married when Ben's walking, talking and able to enjoy putting his feet in the water." She shifted her hold a little, placing Ben on her other knee to bounce him. One thing I do want to point out is, he's going to outgrow the bassinet and will have to be moved into the crib. We don't have enough room in our room for a crib. If we moved him into the living room, it'll take up space we don't really have."

Inhaling a deep breath, he crossed his left leg over his right as he began to think. "When will he be too big?"

"Around three months or so. Basically when he begins to sit up and move around." She lowered her eyes and played with Ben's fingers.

Something wasn't right and John could tell. "Are you okay?"

Maria answered rather quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Can you check the potatoes while I feed Ben and put him to bed?" He nodded and watched her get up and leave. Closing the door behind her to keep the heat in the bedroom, she placed Ben down on the bed and removed her shirt. Settling down on the bed and holding him close, she lowered her bra strap and waited for Ben to accept her advance to nurse.

He latched on and closed his eyes with content and Maria closed her eyes to stop her tears. She wasn't in pain, but she had this overwhelming feeling she was going to be a bad mother to her new son.

Her postpartum was beginning to come in full swing.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

John drained the potatoes of the water and checked the steaks. He was worried what had made Maria become so silent and drawn enough to hide in the bedroom to nurse Ben. She had nursed right there at the table many times in front of him, but she never did that before. Covering the potatoes with cloth to keep them hot, he walked over to the bedroom and slowly opened the door to see silent tears down her cheeks. "Mar? You okay?"

Unable to wipe her face dry, Frank inhaled a deep breath and finally shook her head. "No, I'm not." The bed dipped when he sat down and brushed the hair out of her face. "I-I think you need to call Huang and," she shifted her hold on their son and wiped her cheeks. "tell him I think I'm a bad mother."

Sighing and placing his hands on her shoulders, Munch leaned down to look into her eyes. "Honey, you're having postpartum depression." He kissed her forehead and stroked Ben's hair. "See what you're doing now? You're nursing our son in a way every mother should do. Since you're doing this, you are a good mother. You are a very good mother."

"I hate this. If I'm such a good mother, how could I have not known I was carrying him?"

"Maria, we've been through this. It's not your fault you didn't know." He wanted to hold her close, but it would risk squishes poor Ben between them. "I'm going to finish dinner, give Huang a call and you can put Ben to bed so we can have dinner. Okay?" She nodded and broke the latch between her and Ben. After burping and settling him into bed, Maria pulled her shirt back on and walked out of the bedroom with the baby monitor.

Frank sat down at the table just as John placed a plate down for her with a slab of perfectly cooked steak and mashed potatoes topped with salt and pepper. "Thanks, John." She flashed a small smile and waited until he sat down with his plate. "Did you get a hold of Huang?"

"Yes and he has some free time to see you in a few days. He also wants to see how you react around Ben when he's crying, sleeping, nursing, and being changed." Munch told her as he cut a piece from his steak. "We'll get things taken care of, sweetie. Just remember that, okay?"

She nodded slowly and dipped her piece of steak into her potatoes. "Sounds like a plan. Thanks."

* * *

The next evening -

Startled awake from the sound of Ben crying loudly around ten that night, John slowly got up and reached into the crib. "What's the matter, sport?" Ben's fists were clenched tightly and his knees were held close to his chest. Something new Munch hadn't seen before. Holding him close to his chest, he placed his hand on Maria's shoulder and gently woke her. "Mar? Have you seen this before?"

Frank sat up and took him from John's long arms, checking him over. Removing his onesie and patted his tummy, she noticed it was distended and he cried louder. "Looks like colic and we're going to be up for a while." He asked why with a sigh and she replied, "Because it's colic. There's gas trapped in his body and it's uncomfortable. There are ways to calm him or sooth the pain he's feeling, but it depends if it works or not."

John leaned forward and calmly spoke to Ben over his screams and cries. "At least my walls are soundproof," He commented over the sound. Maria looked up at him with exhaustion and got up to head into the living room. "What can we do to calm him?"

"We can bounce him or we can continue to hold him to offer some comfort and show him we're not going to ignore his pleas for help." Frank sat down on the rocking chair by the window and patted his back as he continued to cry. "I fed him only an hour ago, he feels dry and doesn't smell like he needs a change, so it has to be colic."

Closing his eyes and applying pressure to his temples, John walked into the kitchen and made them both some tea - a calming chamomile tea for her and Earn Grey tea for him. "This should help you if you start feeling stressed," He whispered near her ear, noticing her eyebrows were starting to show some stress.

An hour into Ben crying, Maria passed him off to John to give her ears and arms a break. He began to bounce and talk to Benjamin in hope it would calm him down or distract him long enough.

Nothing seemed to calm the baby and John closed his eyes in hope of thinking of something. Holding him close to his chest and shushing him, Munch cradled his crying and tearful son until tears came from his own eyes. He didn't know what do he was exhausted and he just wanted to sooth their son's pain. "Maria, I don't know what do to." He pleaded softly, watching her flip through a book about colic.

"Take some deep breaths, John, and keep rocking him. I know it hurts watching him cry, sweetheart." She comforted him over Ben's cries, patting his back calmly. "Let's see what I can find in here," She said softly, flipping through a few pages. "Alright, it says here we can try some belly massages or we can distract him for a while by sitting on the washing machine - with spin cycle on - and holding him. We can also try swaddling him in a blanket to help him feel secure and safe."

John walked over to look at what she was reading and read a passage. "What about the part below what you're reading."

"'One thing babies love it to be on the move. Try placing your fussy or colicky baby in a swing and wait patiently until he or she notices they are being rocked gently.' Well, that's worth a shot. Where's that swing Elliot brought over?" Maria took Ben from John and allowed him to go browsing through the closet. Placing the crying infant on his floor pad to help Munch put it together, she gently lowered Ben into the swing and began to slowly swing him. Fifteen minutes later, their son calmed down just enough for them to breath a sigh of relief.

Taking Maria's spot from gently swinging him, John asked, "How did you deal with this when Scott was colicky?"

She shrugged and replied, "I don't know. He wasn't really a big colicky baby. You know how all babies are different? Well, Scott was a different baby. He had colicky moments, but the slightest soothing movement I gave him calmed him down. I guess Ben needs more comfort and rocking to help him. I'm just wondering now how long this is going to last." Glancing at the clock, Frank noticed they had been up for three hours now, attempting to sooth Ben's gas pains.

Sitting down and resting her head on John's shoulder, she thought a chance to grab some sleep would happen. Five minutes later, Ben began to whimper again and she sat straight up. "I didn't pinch him, I swear." John looked in her direction with his eyes wide.

"No, no. It's okay. We just need to work on him a little more." She picked up Ben's floor pad for him belly times and placed it on the table. "Bring him over here and we'll do some massages to see if we can release some of the gas."

Bringing him over and placing him down on the pad, Maria took a hold of his legs and moved them in a peddling motion. The more she did it, the more he began to calm down. "Can you get me a warm washcloth, please?" She asked Munch, who was watching with his hand on Ben's head. Moving to the kitchen and getting on, he returned and she placed the cloth on his stomach. "Providing warmth should help him, too."

John nodded and took over her position after forty-five minutes. By this time, Ben had been reduced to just sniffling and wrinkling his face with pain every now and then. "Think removing the diaper could help?"

"Could," She responded and reached for a dry washcloth to place over his privates. Removing his dry diaper, Munch placed it over Ben's area and scooted the open diaper under his behind. "I'm going to make some more tea. Just keep doing what you're doing." Heating up some more water and refilling their mugs, she handed him his mug and sat down at the table to observe him working. "I can't wait until teething season comes." She mumbled with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"'Teething season'? Seriously?"

"Yep. I told you this isn't going to be easy. Colic, teething, potty training...it's exhausting work. I'm hoping I can at least finish my time at SVU by working part-time. At least I can finish my time there and care for Ben."

John looked over at Maria. "How did you do it with Scott?" She shrugged and rubbed her eyes. "You don't know?" Frank only shook her head and yawned. Seeing she wasn't up to talking anymore as her exhaustion took over, Munch sighed and continued working on Ben's colic, smiling down at the infant. He was left to just his random whimpering and waved his arms happily, curling his toes under John's hands. "I think we took care of the colic for now."

"Cool. I can put him back to bed and you can look up how long it lasts."

He nodded and watch her take him away for a new diaper, get dressed and placed back into bed. Flipping through the book, he scanned a paragraph and groaned. "Mar?"

"What?"

"Know how long it lasts?" Maria poked her head out and shook her head. "Four months." He whimpered with a pout and closed the book. Tossing the book on the table and joining Maria on the bed, he sighed and draped his arm over his eyes. "I'm so tired."

Draping the comforter over their exhausted bodies, she laid down beside him and exhaled a slow breath. "Welcome to parenthood."

**To be continued...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben Munch are from my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content...Maria needs some comfort and John gives what he knows to comfort her.  
**

Two month old Ben cooed happily and waved his arms as John Munch continued to carefully wash his small amount of dark hair. Hearing Maria's voice in the other room, the baby paused and cooed even louder to the sound of his mother. John laughed and Ben smiled up at him. "I think he's calling for you, Mar."

"I can hear that!" Frank called from the kitchen, placing bottles of pumped milk in the fridge. In the early morning, she nursed Ben on one breast and held a pump to her other in attempts to give John what he needed while she was away at work for half the day. Don Cragen had managed to get her new schedule in with 1-PP and her retirement was still being planned for the next month. _Just one month, Maria. One more month. _

Coming out of the bathroom with towel wrapped Ben in his arms, Munch kissed her temple and whispered, "Thanks for last night."

She blushed slightly and screwed the cap onto the last bottle. "You're welcome. I know these past few weeks were getting hard for any intimate moments because Ben's been fussy and all that. I figured giving you what you want was the best thing to do before I head out." After pushing the bassinet out into the living room once Ben was asleep, Maria had given John want he had needed and wanted for weeks. A half hour into their bliss and he had to stop himself from crying out - they both agreed Ben didn't need to hear their intimate moments, even at a very young age.

"Are you sure you have enough bottles in there? He does eat like there's no tomorrow." He asked, observing the five bottles in the fridge door rack.

"I'm sure. Only one or one and a half should do it. I'll nurse him once I get home of course, so the rest could be used for tomorrow when I go to work." She picked up her Glock and slipped it into her leather harness. Ben looked down at it when a look of curiosity. "What? You staring at mommy's gun?" She cooed with a smile and kissed their son's forehead. "Going to be good for daddy?" John made a sound that could have passed as a nervous chuckle and a whine. "You'll be fine, John. If you start feeling swamped, call Kathy Stabler and either she'll come over or she'll send Maureen over."

Shifting his hold of the baby, he pulled her into a hug. "Just be careful, okay? Ben and I don't need you going into a dangerous situation on your first day back or any other day before you retire." Munch tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear and sadly smiled at her. "How long's your shift again?"

"Five hours - give or take." She patted down his rumbled hair since he hadn't had a chance to take a shower and kissed him. "You'll be fine and I'll be at my desk ninety-nine percent of the time, okay? Play with him, talk with him and call the Stabler house if you need to."

Wishing her a safe shift and taking Ben's hand to wave to her, John Munch was left alone for the first time with their son. Sighing, he glanced at the boy and earned a well respected gurgle with a trail of drool trailing from his small mouth. "Well, how about we order pizza and drink some beer?"

Ben cooed and smiled in response.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Two hours into her shift, Maria continued her normal work with D-D5s and listened to the sound she was used to - phones ringing. Watching her clock carefully, she mentally told herself John and Ben were fine without her for a new hours. To make it easy for herself, she had placed a photo of Ben at a month old on her desk, next to John's photo.

Her boys. Smiling softly to herself, she went back to her D-D5s.

Hearing a loud thud, she and others in the room jumped as Fin tossed a man into the holding pen and cursed at him with various words Cragen sometimes turned away from. "That royal piece of shit! Thinkin' he can do something like that and get away with it? Who the fuck does he think he is?"

"What's the matter, my loyal and dark partner?" She asked, knowing it couldn't be any worse then what she had heard or seen.

Fin gave her a look and asked carefully, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Tilting her head a little, she motioned for him to sit and leaned forward. "Fin, I've worked a lot of terrible cases in my life with every terrible doing done to human kind. What's the matter? Is it because I had a baby two months ago and have weird hormones going crazy? What? Tell me."

Exhaling a slow breath, Tutoula lowered his voice and said, "The bastard learned his newborn daughter wasn't really his, but his neighbor's. His wife had been having an affair and the daughter was the product of it."

"Let me guess: he killed the baby."He nodded slowly and she closed her eyes for a moment. "Was it at least quick?" She didn't want to know the details, but she had to ask. When he shook his head, Maria clenched her jaw and pressed her thumb and forefinger to her eyes. "Jesus Christ..." Fin opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him. "Don't. I asked out of my own stupid curiosity, so don't say anything."

Standing up to type up his case, Fin left Maria alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Coming home after her five hour shift, Maria Frank unlocked the door and slowly opened to the door in case either were asleep. Placing her work coat on the coat rack and kicking her shoes off, she came across an image that made her smile.

Fast asleep on the couch was John and, resting comfortably on his chest, was Ben. Both were in deep sleep and the baby looked very content sleeping on John's chest. Smiling, she bent down and kissed Munch's sleeping lips and draped a thin blanket over them both. She wasn't going to leave them alone in case Ben woke up, so she grabbed a book to freshen up on and settled down in the chair closest to the couch.

An hour into reading, she was pulled away from the paragraph when she felt long fingers caress her arm. "When did you get back?" John asked softly when she looked down in his direction.

"About an hour ago. I didn't want to wake you two up since you both looked so content."She combed her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes in content. "How did you get him to fall asleep?"

Carefully sitting up and holding Ben to his chest, John replied, "I played with him, fed him and then he was out like a light. Like you told me; sleep when the baby sleeps." Maria cracked a smile, but he could tell something was bothering her. "What's the matter?"

Struggling to find the right words, she took Ben into her arms and held him tightly to her chest. Minutes past before she said anything. "It was the case today. It involved a newborn baby girl."

Sighing, Munch motioned for her to stand up and moved the bassinet against the wall, watching her place him into it. "C'mon, let's go lie down together." Making sure Ben was comfortably where he had been placed, they both walked into the bedroom hand in hand. Laying down together on their bed, he tried to think of something to distract her from the terrible case. "Do you know how much I love you?"

"I could guess," She replied back softly, linking her fingers with his. "How about you show me."

Tilting his head a little, Munch sat up a little more and asked her gently, "Are you sure? Does your body feel comfortable to do this?" When she nodded in response, he leaned down and kissed her slowly at first and only deepening it when she pulls him closer. Rolling over to hover over her body, he lifted her shirt over and off, tossing it to the floor. His shirt followed shortly after.

It didn't take long for them to shed every last piece of clothing, but John paused for a moment when his hand traveled down below her navel. It didn't take long for him to become fully aroused, but his concern was for Maria to be one hundred percent comfortable since giving birth to Ben and not earning his well loved climax making love to the woman he loved. Placing her hand over his, Frank locked with him and they shared a well understood expression - she was ready and wanted to be comforted by him with love. "I love you, John."

Softly smiling, he passionately kissed her and answered, "I love you, too." Reaching into her side table, he pulled out Maria's stash of non-hormonal contraceptives. They had vowed, after figuring out Ben had been conceived because a condom broke, to both use contraceptives. With her nursing, non-hormonal ways were the best way. Opening the box, he extracted a cervical cap and raised his eyebrows. "Mind if I do the honors?"

Giggling and biting her bottom lip, Maria nodded and allowed him to lift her hips up to scoot a pillow under. Reading the box for a moment, she read out loud to him and it wasn't long until he had sent it into place. Pressing his lips to the area below her navel, John ran his hands along her legs and attempted to make her fully relaxed and calm under his hands. "You're nervous about harming me, aren't you?" She asked, running her fingers through his hair to make him look up.

Yes, he had to admit - he was stalling because he didn't want to cause her any discomfort or pain. He had watched her flinch with every movement she made while in the hospital and got a glance at her area when she chose to lay down fully unclothed on the bed just to get comfortable. It made him flinch seeing what shape she was in. Now, she felt and looked normal to him, but he feared causing some inner pains. "Not going to scold me if I admit it?" She shook her head and sadly smiled. "Then okay. I'll admit I'm nervous harming you."

"Oh, John. Remember the first time we made love?"

He nodded slowly. "Of course I do."

"Let's do that then." He frowned slightly with confusion. "You know," She sat up to wrap her arms around his shoulders and whispered into his ear. "You very slowly entered me and backed off when I told you to pause. You were so patient with me, love, and I know you still have that compassionate patience with me. Just do what did back then."

Closing his eyes at the memory of them connecting together for the first time, he nodded with a heavily swallow and laid her back down on the bed. "Okay, that's what I'll do." Reaching for a condom packet, he opened and eased it on faster then he normally did.

Watching for any signs of discomfort, he eased into her and paused when she placed her hand on his stomach. "Just wait a second." He nodded and waited until she nodded for him to continue. Licking his lips, he eased forward even more until he fully enclosed with her presence. releasing a passionate sigh, Maria placed one hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, her other hand traveling to his backside. With a nudge of her hand, he began to slowly move to have them last as long as possible.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, Frank pulled him closer and they began to move together as one. Nothing else mattered in that moment except them together. Holding her close to his chest, John made sure he didn't touch her breasts or what he would normally do in case he caused Maria any discomfort.

Softly moaning his name and running her hands down his shoulders and back, Frank's body began to tremble the closer she came to climaxing. After going through two months without a release, she was far from ready to enjoy John climaxing with her.

Closing his eyes to concentrate, John shifted his position to reach even deeper into her depths and groaned as he neared his release. Moving faster and faster, he released his hold of her and placed his hands near her shoulders to concentrate. The feel of her lips traveling for his neck to his collar bone drove all thoughts from his mind. Slightly arching his back and grunting, John climaxed and Maria followed him a second later.

Trembling and holding him close as their bodies shuddered with their release. Still holding him, they waited until their breathing calmed down enough to be able to talk. "That...was amazing," Maria commented with a smile, touching John's face as they kissed softly.

Grinning with pride, Munch held her close and asked, "Do you feel better?"

"Much. Thank you." She pulled him down for another kiss at the same time Ben started crying. "Oh, shit. The baby's awake." Glancing at the clock, it was the right time for his colic to appear. "Colic time."

Extracting himself and reaching for the box of cervical cups, John quickly read how long to keep it in. "This says it has spermicide, so we're going to have to wait before removing it." She nodded and began to get up to fetch Ben. "Oh, don't get up. I'll get him for you." Rushing to the bathroom for a few minutes to get cleaned up, he pulled on a robe and picked up the baby from his bassinet.

Handing him to Maria and sitting down beside her, they both shared a glance of what was going to be another long night.

* * *

Week later -

"How are you feeling today?" George Huang asked Maria during one of her weekly sessions for her postpartum depression. Instead of going to his office, he came over to their apartment to see and observe the environment the three were in and found no reason to be concerned for Maria's well-being. John had taken Ben with him to do laundry to give Maria's body a break from watching their son and leave them alone during her hourly session.

Crossing her right leg over her left, Maria replied, "Good. I'm doing better day after day. Those calming sessions you told me about are helping a lot, by the way. We've figured out a way to calm Ben's colic sessions, John's taking over caring for him when I'm feeling overwhelmed or exhausted and we share the responsibility together. He enjoys taking care of him when I'm away at work for a few hours a day, too."

Nodding with her improvement, George asked her a personal question. "Are you and John being intimate again?"

"Not as often as we used to be, but I'm not blaming Ben for that." They shared a chuckle. "John's very gentle with me each time so it doesn't cause me any discomfort. Only once did we stop because...I had a flashback."

He leaned forward with interest. "How far along with were you two when it came?"

Maria glanced down and crossed her arms. She was starting to feel defensive.

_Flashback to the night before - _

_Eyes flying open when she heard an unpleasant voice in her ear, Maria placed her hands on John's shoulders and gasped, "Stop."_

_Instantly stopping, Munch extracted himself and cupped her face with his hands, trying to get her to look at her. Squirming away from him and getting up, Maria stood by the wall with her arms wrapped around herself. She had begun to head into a dark place where John couldn't reach her. Hastily cleaning himself up and tossing his protection, John slowly walked towards her with caution. He learned from experience if she started heading down a dark place, she would hit if he touched her. "Maria? Are you still with me?" _

_Not responding to him the first time he called, her green eyes shot up to look at him the third time he called her name. Something dangerous was in her eyes and John could see it in the small amount of lighting in the bedroom. He had her attention and had to keep it. "Maria, can you hear me?" _

_Shifting her eyes around the room like she couldn't understand how she got there, Maria blinked a few times and softly began to cry. "John?" Grabbing for the comforter and wrapping around them to keep them warm, John held her close to her chest as she cried. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry."_

_"Shhh. It's okay, sweetie." He whispered softly in her ear. Her cries becoming stronger, he began to hum a tune Maria had hummed not too long ago when they put Ben down for the evening. Much to his surprise, she began to calm down to just sniffles. Resting his cheek on the top of her head, John closed his eyes and kept rocking her slowly. _

"I-I guess you could consider it a mild case since I snapped out of it faster then I normally did. We were practically in the middle of making love when it happened."

"When did this happen?"

Softly sighing, she replied, "The night before. Ben had fallen asleep for the evening before his colic session and we've worked out a schedule to make love when we felt up for it before he woke up." Maria uncrossed her arms and stared at her hands. "I'm still afraid I'm going to look at Ben and think he's Scott. Scott's long gone and I know that, but there are times when I look at this baby and think 'you could be Scott reincarnated' and call him Scott."

"Does John know about this?"

Maria nodded slowly. "Yeah, he does. I tell him everything from the smallest paper cuts at work to the big things, like our intimate moments together. You know, what feels good for me or what doesn't."

"He considers that the big stuff?"

"Of course. There are a lot of big things he cares about but that was the first thing that came to mind. Sex is very important to both of us since it's suppose to be a beautiful thing between two people." She linked her fingers together like it was her and John together. "That's how we are. He was the first man who showed me the kinder side of human sexuality during my darkest of times and I can't thank him enough. My flashbacks and episodes don't seem too lonely anymore with him home and around more and he's...he's still the sweetest and gentlest man to this day." Huang tilted his head slightly. Once she started talking, he knew not to stop her. "He could witness the worst murders in the history of Baltimore and I'm the one he opens to more then he did to his colleagues. Meldrick would tell him to shut up during his rants and he never liked that. He needs to vent when something bothers him."

"Like you need to talk when something's on your mind?"

Maria Frank nodded her head. "He's on my mind and I talk to get it out. I talked about Ben being like Scott and I got that out."

"How's work going?"

"It's going better then I thought. I'm restricted to working desk work unless I'm needed, working five to six hour shift days and, if John needs me, I'm allowed to leave early. I can keep doing this up to my retirement, too."

George nodded with a smile. "Wonderful. I like how that's been worked out. Get your paperwork yet?"

"Not yet, but it's coming. We don't want it in a bar, but more at like a restaurant type of club where we can reserve a room with an open bar for those who want a drink. If we didn't want Ben there, we would be at a bar. But, we want him there to see people and interact with as much as he can." Giving a small smile, she motioned with her hand and added, "You're more then welcome to come, by the way."

Accepting her invitation and hearing talking from the other room, they turned to see John carrying the basket with Ben leaning back on the clothes, cooing happily. "Well, looks like it's time for me to head out. See you next week?"

Scooping Ben up with a huge smile on her face, Maria nodded and held the door for him as Huang left. "Good session?" John asked, placing the basket down to sort.

"It was good. Talked about the usual things, including my mild episode the night before." She noticed Munch straightening up and thick silence filled the air. "He's impressed by how mild it was." They shared a look for a split second, until Ben spit up on Maria's shirt. "Oh, crap."

Grabbing for a washcloth, he took the baby from her arms while she removed her shirt to wash it off. Wiping Ben's chin and mouth, John placed him on his floor pad to wave his arms at his new activity center. Gurgling and cooing happily, little Ben raised one arm and attempted to grasp a hanging toy. "Well, at least everything's good so far with your postpartum and your PTSD. How about we pack a lunch and take it up the roof? I think Ben will like it and it'll give us a chance to talk about your retirement and our wedding, since we still need to plan that."

Placing the newly wet shirt on the counter and reaching for one in the basket, Maria agreed and walked into the bedroom to fetch some clothes for the baby. Changing Ben on the floor, she swapped his onesie for pants and a long sleeved shirt. Slipping on his socks and shoes, she watched John in the kitchen, packing up a lunch for them and several bottles of milk for Ben.

Sucking on his binkie in content, Ben allowed Frank to put a coat and hat on. "Ready?"

Nodding, John held the door open for Maria to walk through with the car seat in hand. Making their way to the roof, they chose a quiet and shaded place and Munch handed her a sandwich. "No seasonings, just like you need." He smiled softly.

"Thanks." She sat down cross-legged and rocked the car seat as Ben continued to suck on his binkie, looking up as a small flock of birds went by. Maria looked up and chuckled. "I think Ben likes birds."

John looked up and watched a crow land on the ledge, cawing. "Once we move into a real home and give him his own bedroom, we'll design it with animals and basketball hoops. What do you think?" Maria Frank nodded between bites. "Cool. That place in Queens in still available."

"Yeah?" She turned her head with a smile. "Is it the one with the fenced in back yard and three bedroom with two bathrooms?" Munch nodded, too busy chewing to talk. "Hm. Maybe that will be the place to look at." Slipping a finger in the baby's fist as he continued to look around, she said as an added thought, "Would be nice to move into a house before he really needs to be in a crib. I don't think we have the space for a crib in the apartment as it is."

"That's one thing I'm worried about, Mar. I'll call the Realtor tomorrow and work something out for a meeting. Once he starts moving on those chubby legs of his, we'll need a yard for him to run around in."

Sighing and glancing down at their son, Maria broke out a small smile at his sleepy eyes, the binkie moving slower and slower until he was out. "We'll figure it out, John. We're not totally hopeless to give him the best."

**To be continued...**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Some adult content...yep.  
**

Four month old Ben Munch looked around on his belly, observing and listening to the voices he knew. Bracing himself up on his arms and lifting his head, his big toothless smile broke out when he saw John walk over. Babbling happily when he was lifted up and placed on his father's lap when John sat down, he reached his hands up and tried to grab for his transition glasses. "Oh, I don't think so, Spike." Munch softly laughed and handed him a toy to play and suck on.

Maria was due home in two hours from work. Right after she gets home, Elliot will be stopping by with a playpen for Ben since he was starting to become more active. His favorite toy so far was a brightly colored rattle with a bird at the end - something he grabbed for at the store the week before they could stop him. When he cried when Maria had put it back, John handed it back to him and Ben calmed right down. After it was cleaned several times at home, she handed it to him and he went right ahead sucking and shaking it.

Reaching for a picture book Fin had gifted Ben a few days ago, he opened it to see brightly colored animals, plants and people etched into the pages. Ben, shaking his rattle, babbled to get his father's attention and reached out to one page. "What? You like that coloring?" He asked his softly and cheerfully.

"Baba baba baba baba," He replied, patting the page with his hand, like he was telling or describing the page to John himself. Looking up at his father, the little Munch smacked the page once more and squealed.

"Yes, Ben. That's a doggy. Can you say doggy?"

"Daba baba bababa." Drool traveled down his chin and landed on his absorbent bib.

John softly sighed and wiped the baby's chin with the neutral colored bib. "You my dear boy are a drool machine. Do you know that?" He laughed, watching him stick his tongue out and pull it back in without even blinking. "You are one personality-ridden baby, Ben."

Turning back to the book and watching his father turn a few pages, the baby stopped him when he slapped the page and went 'Da!' at a brightly pictured couple with their toddler at their side. "Daga!"

"You're right Ben; that does look like me, your mommy and you." John gave him a small smile when he looked up, noticing he had spoken. "Just have to wait a little longer and we'll be a happily family. Not like we're not a happy family, but we can be a legal happy family with the same last names. You're mommy doesn't have our same last names yet, but she will." Shifting Ben's sitting position, so he could look at him properly, John could feel a small vent coming on. "See, that's the problem with some people in this world. Since mommy and I are living together, people are probably going to assume she and I are married. At the same time, with the outside world seeing us with you, they assume we're your grandparents." He huffed softly, wiping his chin again with the bib. "Society just doesn't think we, being older folks, can't father or mother a child. You proved us wrong, little guy."

Ben reached up and touched John's nose. "Bada gada," He babbled with a straight face.

"You're are absolutely right, Ben. You have no idea how good you have it." He beamed down at his now grinning son and moved them both to the floor. Placing Ben down on his belly, he laid down with him and observed the baby lift himself up on his hands and reach out for John's hand. "Are you going to learn to crawl soon? We have a playpen coming for you to keep you occupied and we'll be doing more baby-proofing then we've really been doing."

He cooed and continued to babble, his rattle in his hand. Munch grinned when he looked up at the ceiling like and babbled some more.

"You are one funny little dude, Ben." He rested his chin on his arms and watched the baby try to mimic his posture. "You are a total hoot, son."

* * *

"Ben likes the book Fin got for him." John tiredly commented following bedtime. Ben slept soundly in the crib out in the living room since he had outgrown the bassinet. Plans to get the house they wanted in Queens was going well and packing of their belongings was under way. Once she retired, they were moving in.

Her retirement party was next week.

Laying on her stomach and drifting in and out of sleep, Maria cracked a small smile. "Really? That's wonderful." She reached out and lightly patted John's face, cuddling close. "He's going to crawl soon."

"I'm aware. I wonder if I'm up for that." Opening one eye, he saw she was barely responding to him anymore. It's true; they were exhausted. After getting home from work, she helped Elliot bring up a playpen for Ben and enjoyed seeing he adapted to it well. "The pen will keep him entertained for a while."

Sighing in her sleep, she barely answered with a hum and she was out. Draping the comforter around her shoulders, John was soon fast asleep.

Close to three that morning, Maria woke up to something poking her in the thigh. Sometime during the night, the two had rolled over to one side and John was now behind her. The feel of being poked during the night no longer alarmed her since she knew it was normal when he was having a deep dream. Noticing his arm was draped over her waist, she took a hold of his hand and slowly woke him up. "John? Baby, wake up."

Shifting in his sleep and moving closer to her, Munch groaned softly into her neck with a smile on his face. _Oh, for Pete sake,_ Frank thought to herself, knowing he was happily dreaming about something. "C'mon, hun. Just wake up enough to roll over." She pleaded at a whisper, closing her eyes for a moment. _What a way to wake up._

"Hm, what?" He muttered half asleep, wrapping his arms around her.

"Wake up or roll over. You're _poking _me." Lifting his head slightly, John gave her a quizzical look. "John, look down at your crotch. You are literally poking me in my thigh." She muttered between her teeth, fighting her resolve to press back against him and start off their day is sheer bliss.

Barely awake, he glanced down and sighed. "Look at that." Chuckling softly to himself, he moved back up to nuzzle her neck. "I see nothing wrong with that."

"I'm sure you don't," Maria softly sighed as she rolled over to face him. Noticing he was giggling to himself, she rolled her eyes and thought of what to do. "What? Do I need to please you to calm you down?"

Wiggling his eyebrows and grinning big, he quickly pushed the comforter away and rolled into his back. Chuckling from how quickly he moved to his usual position, she grabbed for the box of tissues on her bedside table and lowered his boxers just enough to give them both a good comfort level. "No foreplay?" He remarked with a smirk, running his fingers through her hair.

"From the bruise on my thigh from your hard poking, nope." She retorted, kissing his shaft. "Now quit your giggling and let me focus for this." Winking at him, she moved quickly to jump right down to business and John gripped the sheets for a moment.

Five seconds later, he giggled.

Freezing in her position, Maria released him and gave him a look. "Seriously? Were you bit by the giggle bug today?" He responded by giggling a little more. "You're not making this easier, John-boy."

"I'm sorry, Mar." He breathed, trying calm himself. "It was just...this dream I had that involved you, me and," He paused for a moment. "Rocket Pops."

Blowing out a breath and laughing, Maria shook her head and went back down to business to please him.

Five minutes into it, he drew in a sharp breath and warned her with a tap to her shoulder. Pulling away from his shaft, Frank watched him climax and chuckled when he started giggling again. "Feel better?"

"Oh, beyond that." John caught his breath and continued to giggle for the next few minutes as she cleaned him up. "Must have been the quickest job I've had."

Laying back down and curling up beside him, Maria closed her eyes once more to get some sleep. "Well, you were pretty much half way to the end when I got started." Pressing her lips to his neck and feeling his pulse pounding, she knew he was the greatest man she had ever known.

* * *

Five days later -

Maria Frank stood in the kitchen, stirring breast milk with baby rice cereal to slowly begin introducing food to Ben. "Going to eat from the spoon, Ben?" She happily asked, sitting down in a chair and faced the high chair. The living room was full of boxes for their upcoming move to their home in Queens and space was feeling limited with the crib among the boxes. Making sure the mixture was very thin to begin feeding him, Frank strapped a elephant bib around his neck and scooted closer.

This was going to be fun.

Laying in bed, John wasn't taking a chance going near the baby while fighting his stress cold. The packing and moving had him running on a thin rope of stress and his immune system had taken a hit. Kathy Stabler was coming over before Maria left for work with Eli to care of Ben while Munch slept. Moving to comforter over his head and hiding from the beam of light coming in, he longed to be out and observe Maria feed their son.

The white creamy food dribbled down Ben's chin as his tongue did a reflex and pushed it out. Scooping it up with the baby spoon and moving it around with plane sounds, Maria grinned when he mimicked her grin and popped it in. With two big swallows, the food went down and Ben cooed, spraying food particles on Maria's shirt. "You are so lucky this is not my work shirt," She smirked, clapping her hands when he clapped happily. "I'm so proud you swallowed your food, Ben. Good boy."

"Bababa gadaga," Ben replied, checking out the food that had landed on the tray. "Baba."

"Can you say 'Dada' or 'Momma'?" She asked, wondering if he was going to say his first words. "You daddy would be very proud if you say 'Dada' when he's around." Maria stirred the contents in the bowl and scooped up just a little. "Can you open up?" She asked cheerfully, flying it around as Ben watched her hand. "Here is comes!"

Daba!" Ben happily squealed and took in the spoon, working hard to swallow the food instead of pushing it out.

Maria laughed and wiped his chin with his moist bib. "You're taking to the food better then some babies do. You could be president with your attitude, my little man."

Over the next ten minutes, Ben was happily fed by his mother until he was done, turning his head away from the spoon with a pout. Keeping him strapped in the high chair, she placed the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and answered the door when she heard Eli's familiar voice in the hallway. "Thanks for stopping by, Kathy. Wouldn't have called if John wasn't ill."

"Oh, no problem. How bad is it?" She placed three year old Eli on the floor and handed him his bag of toys.

"Nothing bad. It's more like a stress cold from our upcoming move after I retire. He hasn't been sleeping well the last few days and has been constantly scratching his neck from stress to the point he could break skin." She unstrapped Ben from the high chair and lifted him up. "I just fed him some baby rice cereal and he did very well. I have some bottles in the fridge if he gets hungry and the changing table is over by that wall there," She pointed in the direction to show her. "Well, you basically know where everything thing is, of course. If you need help with finding something, don't feel shy knocking on the bedroom door and asking John."

Mrs. Stabler nodded and held her hands out for Ben. "We'll be fine. Eli does really well with babies younger then him and might just go ahead and ignore him anyway. He has his bag of toys, so he'll be distracted. How long is your shift today?"

"Four hours - give or take. Don's been cutting them down the closer we get to the wire." Maria motioned for her to follow her to the bedroom so she could change her shirt and talk to Kathy through the door. "I have to admit, I can't wait to get away from everything I've seen and witnessed."

Kathy bounced Ben in her arms and patted his back softly. "I understand. I can't wait for Elliot to leave Special Victims. It does take a toll on our relationship."

Looking over at the lump in the bed, Maria had to agree. Kneeling down and combing her fingers through John's mostly silver hair, she fully knew what she meant. "I know what you mean, Kathy. It's been a bumpy road for us." Kissing John's forehead as he slept, she walked out and grabbed for her jacket. "At least he and I have stuck together through everything and I know you and Elliot will be fine."

"I hope so." She cracked a small smile and placed a hand on Maria's shoulder. "I'll call if anything comes up, okay?"

Nodding and kissing Ben's forehead, Maria Frank gave her a wave and left for the few hours she had.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Moving a few more things from her desk and into a box, Maria's desk was slowly looking more and more bare with every little thing she placed into the cardboard box she had stashed under her desk. Hearing a woman Fin and Marks had arrested earlier that day cry in the holding pen, she raised her head enough to see Tutoula release a man they had interrogated. The man lashed out at the woman in the pen, throwing his fist between the bars and collided with her chin.

"Hey! Get out or get arrested!" Fin snarled, grabbing the back of his collar and shoved him out department door. "Make a choice." Trudging in Maria's direction, he sat down in the chair beside her metal desk and heavily sighed. "I fuckin' hate people."

"Wanna lay back my desk and tell me it all started when you were a baby?" She smirked, tossing the cardboard box under her desk. "What's up with the cry baby in the pen?"

"She murdered her kids, thinking her husband would have taken her back. Havin' a Susan Smith moment, ya know?" He tapped the desk top with his fingers and leaned back. "And those tears are not for the three kids, but for her husband. He's filing for divorce and will be testifying against her about how she treated him and the kids."

Maria Frank shook her head slowly and chewed on the end of her pen. "I don't get people. Why didn't he take the kids when he left?"

"Tried to, but the court system allowed her to keep them since she was their mother and we both know all mothers are suppose to be kind and godly." Fin sarcastically explained to her, smirking when she cracked a smile.

"If that was true, my mother would still be alive and drying me out of my paychecks." Maria leaned back and tossed her pen on the desk. "Whatever. I'm going to be done with this shit soon. All I want to do is hug my baby, kiss my man and crawl into bed until the world ends."

"I hear ya, baby. I hear ya."

* * *

Returning home and saying good bye to Kathy and Eli Stabler, Maria Frank checked on napping Ben and quietly peeked into the bedroom to see John laying on his side and reading a book. "Hey, handsome."

Placing the book down and lifting his head a little, he broke out a small smile. "Hey. How was work?"

She shrugged and sat down on the bed. "The usual terrible things. Fin arrested a mother for killing her three kids, thinking her husband would take her back. Crazy bitch cried in the holding pen from when I sat down to when I left. But enough about my hell. How are you feeling?"

"Better, but still not all the way there."

"Have you eaten anything today?" When John shook his head, Frank headed into the kitchen and made him an easy to eat late lunch. Waiting for him to sit up in bed, she fed him carefully instead of him doing it himself. "Haven't done this in a while," she softly commented, forking up some egg.

Giving her a smile, Munch replied, "I know. We've been busy caring for Ben. How was his first solid food session?"

"Good. Really good. He seems to love baby rice cereal." She smiled sheepishly and added, "I think I enjoy making plane sounds."

John laughed softly and laughed louder when she made the sound, moving the fork around. To humor her, he opened his mouth and she popped the fork in, surprising him. "I didn't expect that." He said with a cocky smile, slowly chewing.

"I figured you didn't," Maria softly chuckled and worked on forking up the some of the last eggs. "What some more like that?" Nodding with a grin, he watched the fork with his eyes and held his mouth open. For the next few forkfuls, they had fun with her 'flying fork' game until Ben woke from his nap. "I should go take care of him. He's probably hungry."

"Go ahead. Not like I'm going anywhere," He smirked, laying back down as she got up.

Placing the plate in the sink, she reached into the crib and scooped up the baby, soothing his tears. "Hey, what's the matter? Are we a little hungry?" Checking to see if it was the case and not just a diaper change, she hightailed into the bedroom and sat down as John rolled over to watch her. There was just something about her nursing their son that fascinated him.

Not wanting to touch him in case he passed on his cold, Munch watched as she removed her shirt for easier access and lowered one strap for Ben to latch onto her right breast to feed. Closing his eyes with content, the little Munch slowed to take a breath and then continued. "Does it hurt anymore?"

"Oh, no. It's more like a tugging feeling then anything."

John smirked and cracked, "Like when I play with your breasts?" Maria blushed and nodded, showing a shy smile. "Hey," He reached out and caressed her arm gently. "You know you don't need to be shy around me. I've said, touched and seen everything of your body. Although, I am getting jealous of my offspring going to town with your chest." He cocked an eyebrow and gave her a look.

Frank rolled her eyes and softly sighed. "I figured you were getting jealous about him."

"Well, I've never had to share your ever so beautiful breasts before. Now, since you're nursing him - the best thing for him anyway - makes me jealous I have to share him."

"I don't see you playing with them any time soon anyway, unless you want to accidentally..." She paused and left it sitting in the air, wondering if he was going to get it.

Contemplating what she said, he asked after a long pause, "Do you know what it tastes like?"

Tilting her head slightly in thought, Frank patted down a small curl on Ben's head with her hand. "The nurse told me it tastes sweet, like honey, sugar and syrup. Not as thick as store milk, but it's sweeter. Why? Are you wondering if you should taste it?"

Looking sheepish for a moment, John made eye contact with her and answered with honesty in his voice. "If it doesn't bother you, yes."

Nodding her head slowly, Maria leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Alright. I'm sure there are other women out there who let their men taste it out of curiosity. Once you're back to full health, we can certainly talk about it. For now," She slipped her fingers between Ben's mouth and her breast, "little sport here has fallen back to sleep and needs to be burped."

"I'm going to get up for a moment," John announced, moving to sit up and stretched. "I should take a shower or something since I'm feeling slightly better. Just a few more days and you are a free woman, my dear sweet Mar."

Maria laughed. "I'm sweet? After today's shit-fest, I'm surprised I'm sweet."

"I thought we were suppose to watch our language around the baby?"

She shrugged and patted Ben's back, who slept on her shoulder. "At this rate, he's going to be saying various words with my retirement coming up, the move after that and getting everything baby proofed when he learns to crawl. I won't be surprised if his first word is 'shit'."

Laughing as he stood, Munch smiled at the pair before heading to the bathroom. After a hard day, there was nothing better then seeing her relax with her boys. Made him one happy man.

**To be continued...**

**Author's note - No idea how much longer I'll let this go, but since I'm having way too much fucking fun and enjoying this, I'll keep going until I feel it's ready to end. And, yes, I've done a lot of reading, and advice from a friend, after men tasting breast milk and what it tastes like. Hey, curiosity is a wonderful thing. Sure hasn't killed me yet! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Some names belong to Homicide: Life on the Streets while others were made up just for this. Annnnnd because they are a couple who are head over heels for each other, gotta shoot in adult content. It's fun. Gives them something to do during those quiet times. ::wink::  
**

Four days later:

"Hell, I'm so fucking nervous about this. You'd think this wouldn't bother me," Maria Frank sighed, strapping Ben into his car seat for her retirement party. The little one babbled and shook his favorite rattle, letting it clink against the hard plastic. "It could be excitement, too, but I can't tell at this point."

Wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close, John Munch calmed her with soft words. "You'll be fine. You've done so much for special victims longer then I had and you're an amazing woman. When it comes to saying your speech, just say whatever comes to mind. Talk about Ben if you want, how much you love everyone, but it's time to move on and take care of our small family." Resting his chin on top of her head, he smiled and whispered, "I'm so proud of you."

Maria wished they could stand there and just hold each other, but the sound of Ben getting antsy to get moving told them it was time to go.

The week before, Don had booked a room at the local country club restaurant for invited guests only and no smoking for Ben's health. Pulling into the parking lot and unbuckling the car seat from the back, John took her hand and led her to the loud room. When Liv opened the door, they were greeted by claps, cheers and various awes from those who saw Ben the second they walked in.

Setting the car seat on the main big table to allow him to look around and be easily seen by everyone, Munch watched Maria being pulled into a conversation with her former Boston captain, Gene McKern. Watching the older man give her a bear hug, he observed the crowd of familiar people they both knew from work in Baltimore and New York.

"This must be the mysterious Benjamin I heard about," Kay Howard happily cooed, coming close and awing at the baby. Ben grinned, waving his arms and kicking his legs out with excitement. "My gosh, John. He's so cute!" She wiggled her fingers and he squealed, drool traveling down his chin.

"Surprised I can pass on my good looks?" John quipped, acting slightly cocky with his former Sargent from Baltimore.

She playfully slapped his arm and blew out a breath. "'Passing on my good looks?' Nah, he got all his looks from Maria." She winked and John laughed. "Mind if I hold him?"

Undoing his straps and picking him up, Munch handed Ben to her open arms. "He does drool like crazy, so don't be alarmed when you start feeling slimy." Nodding her head with understanding, Howard only went as far as five feet to keep John feeling comfortable with someone else holding his son. Tearing his eyes away from Kay for a moment, he watched Maria being hugged by Meldrick Lewis. Everything felt so right at the moment and John Munch couldn't have been more proud. This was her moment to shine, just like when his retirement was his moment.

Turning his head when he felt a tap on the shoulder, he accepted a drink from Michael Kellerman. "Hey, proud daddy!" He jumped up to sit on the table and took a sip from his beer. "Don't mind if I call you that, do you?"

"Nah. We're trying to get Ben to say his first words or attempt his first words. I'm 'Dada' by day and 'John' by night." He whispered with a hint of secrecy in his voice. "Don't give out my secret identity, Micky."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Mick looked around. "How old is he?"

"Four months. He almost rolled over last night. We were cheering him on and clapping, trying to get him to fully roll over onto his belly. Silly kid teetered on his side before flopping back onto his back. He'll start working on crawling soon and then walking. It's scary to see how fast they grow." John turned his attention to the younger man. "Why are you interested?"

Kellerman held up his hand, showing a ring. "Got married a few years back and have a couple kids. Trisha and I are working on our third and last child and just interested. Two girls and we're finally having a boy - little Micky Jr."

"'Micky Jr.'? That's original," Munch smirked and waved his hand, seeing Maria looking around after spotting Kay holding Ben. "Maria said 'no' to the idea of Ben being named John Jr. Not like I was going to name him that anyway, but-" He was cut short by the sound of Ben starting to cry and Howard carrying him over, shushing him gently. "Oh, what's the matter big boy? Did someone pinch you?"

Kay shook her head, handing him over. "No, probably just noticing he was away from his daddy." She watched with a smile as John lifted him up over his head and kissed his son's cheek. Ben cried a few more minutes more before calming down against his shoulder, hands held close to his face as if he was trying to hide. "You're a good father, John."

"I try," He replied softly, grabbing a blanket from Ben's bag and wrapping it around him to help him calm down some more. "He loves to be held when upset with his favorite blanket. Mind reaching into the car seat and handing me his rattle? You should see his face when he sees it." Howard reached for it and handed it to him. "What this." Holding it near Ben's head, he shook the brightly colored rattle and he looked up, face glowing happily.

Reaching a little hand out and babbling, the little Munch took it and placed it in his mouth, cooing with a smile. Kay laughed and touched his small hand. "It's that cute. He's a very happy baby. How's Maria doing caring for him?"

"Fantastic! She did hit some postpartum depression, but she's doing great after talking with someone and getting enough rest in between caring for him. She's breast feeding him when he's hungry, sleeps when he sleeps and now we will both have a lot of time on our hands to show him how to crawl, talk and walk."

"I'm happy for you two. Truly." She grinned and patted John's back, heading into the crowd when someone called her name.

Maria Frank weaved through the crowd with a drink in hand to where John was standing. "Hey hun. Got those bottles of milk for him just in case?" He nodded and wiped up some drool that was threatening to fall on his shirt. "Good, because I'm ready to take a real drink for the first time in months."

"Think that's safe?"

She nodded and explained, "As long as we have enough filled bottles, I can detox and pump out the bad milk later. Do it right and he won't get any bad milk from me. It would wear me out if I were to do it all the time detoxing, so this is a once in a nursing lifetime opportunity for me. Keep him awake long enough before we go home and we can spend the night together without being interrupted," She whispered in his ear and his face pinked slightly. "How about handing me the baby and get something to eat? There's a lot of food over there to make you one happy camper."

John handed the cooing baby to her and headed over to grab some food. Maria took the chance to sit down at the bigger table and allowed people to come sit and chat, while seeing the baby.

Two hours into party, Maria placed Ben into his car seat and stood up to get everyone's attention. Once everyone went silence, she smiled. "First off, I want to thank everyone for coming this evening for the second retirement party in...eleven or twelve months. I had expected to leave earlier, but a little someone kept me working for another two months." She pointed in Ben's direction, who was mouthing his toy keys and oblivious of everything. "All my years working special victims has really taught me good and bad things to value in life. After my assault some years back, I have learned to embrace my emotional and physical scars. That's one of the few bad values in my life. The good, however, is standing by the buffet and stalking the shrimp." John lifted his head for a moment, noticing he was being watched by many eyes. "Yeah, you."

He gave a small wave and gradually made his way over to sit next to her.

"Through every case file and every victim I have worked with and gone to trial for, there are some that will always stick with me. But I know that now it's time to move away from the horrible and dreadful things I've seen and witnessed and take care of my small family and move out of the city into a quiet neighborhood. Few of you know, but we found a house in Queens and we'll be moving in once everything is finished being packed." Various people smiled and others nodded their heads with understanding and agreement. "It's a big jump from the city to a quiet neighborhood. Mostly for Ben's sake because he's going to be walking in a few months but for us, too."

She paused for a moment and thought for a moment. "Frankly, I don't know what to say, but thanks to each and every one of you. I love all of you and-"

"Dada!"

Everyone went silent and both John and Maria turned there heads to where Ben was. Shaking his toy keys and babbling, he didn't notice he just caused every person to freeze where they were. John leaned over and whispered, "Did he just say 'Dada'?"

"Sounded like it. Random babble or not, he said 'Dada'." Maria's face broke into a hug smile as Munch picked up the baby."Benjamin? Can you say 'Dada' one more time?"

Ben squealed and shook the keys in his hands, not noticing or even knowing what had caused such an uproar with his parents and everyone else who had heard. "Babababa," He mumbled, the toy keys being dropped the floor. With a whimper and attempted cry, his chin trembled. Tim Bayliss moved quickly to pick them up and handed them to John to clean off.

Holding her hands out and taking Ben, Maria reached into his bag and pulled out her pacifier. She popped it in and he was quiet and calm instantly. "Well, I guess that's how Ben wanted to end my little speech."

Noticing it was getting late an hour later, John wanted to get home and get Ben to bed. Saying goodnight to everyone who was staying longer, they made it home in no time and settled Ben into bed before turning their attention to each other.

Unlike their last retirement party thrill, they were going to take it slow and gentle. Laying together on the bed after stripping down, Munch lightly kissed her shoulder and reminded her. "Remember our talk a few days back?"

"I think so," she replied softly, her hand resting on his hip. "About the breast milk thing?" He lightly nodded his head. "Well, there is a bottle in the fridge that hasn't even been used yet it you want."

Chuckling with a hint of nervousness, John moved closer to her. "What I was thinking didn't involve that, Mar. I won't be as rough as I sometimes _can _be." When she didn't reply after a few minutes, he continued talking. "Some couples, from what I've read, enjoy the intimate and closeness that can come from it and both can be curious about it. You know how curious I can be sometimes with something like this and I'm not shy coming forward with trying something, but I have a feeling this would make you feel a little awkward."

"Awkward might just be the right word, John. Before I had Ben, feeling you touching me with her hands and mouth never bothered me, but I guess it's the thought of you...suckling from me feels a little weird." She laughed nervously, but didn't pull away from John. If she wanted nothing to do with it, she would have pulled away. "Do you really want to try it?"

"If it makes you feel comfortable? Yes."

Inhaling a slow breath and closing her eyes for a moment, Maria Frank slowly nodded her head. "Okay, then. I know you've had a hard time not being able to touch them because I've been nursing, pumping and they're normally tender afterward. I just don't want to feel like a cow who needs to be milked several times a day." She laughed and moved into a more comfortable position on her back.

Bracing up on his elbow and smoothing his hand over her stomach, John kissed her softly and moved slowly down to her neck. Moving to rub a hand over her left breast and caressing it, he kept eye contact with Maria's eyes as he lowered his head down and gradually enclosed his mouth around breast.

Squirming under his touch and softly moaning, Maria exhaled a long breath and placed her hand on the back of his neck. Sensing he was wanting her to talk to him, she whispered, "Just go slow for me, okay?"

He hummed in understanding and smiled when she twitched from the sensation. Her hand gripping the back of his neck showed him she enjoyed that and hummed again - softer this time. Moving so he was up closer to her chest, he began to slowly go in a sucking motion, pausing every now and then for her own comfort.

When she nodded her head for him to continue, John inhaled and felt some sweet liquid hit his tongue. He released her breast slowly and allowed the taste to hang around before swallowing. "What is it?"

"It's warm, sweet and much thinner then regular milk, Mar," He explained, a warm smile on his face. "I kinda like it." Maria laughed, her hand over her eyes from slight embarrassment. Taking a hold of her wrist and pulling it away to look at her, he gently kissed her and asked, "Mind if I do that again?"

Her smile becoming wider and more sly, she sat up and suggested something even better. "You can, but it will have to involve this," She held up a condom and winked. "C'mon, baby. What do you think?"

"What makes you think I'll object," He whispered warmly, feeling the familiar warmth from seeing the smile on her face and things to come. Feeling her warm body rubbing next to his, John closed his eyes and could feel his body starting to react.

Noticing he was enjoying her body right against his, Maria placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down for a long and lengthy kiss. "Talk to me, John. Tell me what you want tonight."

Exhaling a hot breath to her neck, Munch ran his fingers slowly down her body and slowly smiled to himself. "What I would love from you is you on top so I can just touch you in ways I know."

"Well, lets forget the cervical cap and just use a condom and spermicide," She softly said into his ear, feeling him grow stiffer against her leg. "It'll be so much better that way for us." With one push and she rolled him to his back, she observed him becoming more heated just from her touches. "Where would you like me to touch you?" She questioned, lightly tapping her fingers up and down his stiff length.

Breathing heavier with each image that ran through his mind, John just wanted her to touch him in most intimate ways. "Please...just touch me, Maria." They both gazed into each other eyes and Munch reached up to touch her face. "I love you."

Kissing his chest and stomach, Maria replied with, "I love you, too." Running her hand down lower, she gently cupped him and ran her tongue along his length, slipping her mouth over seconds later. John gripped the sheets under him and gasped from the sensation, arching his back slightly. Still cupping him with one hand, Frank used her other hand to exert some pressure at the base of his erection to keep him from going off.

Opening his eyes for a moment and seeing she partially laying across his stomach, John took his chance to slowly caress her back with his fingers, nails barely leaving a mark in her flesh. Sighing from his fingers on her back, Maria removed her mouth for a moment to press her lips right below his navel. "Don't stop, Mar," He pleaded, squirming slightly under her body. He didn't want her to stop now.

"I want to continue baby, but if I keep it up, I'll climax just sitting here."

"You're that close?" He asked with slight awe in his voice. Maria nodded and reached for the condom, ripping it open. Opening his side table and pulling out a squeezable tube of Spermicide, he handed it to her, who had moved to straddle his legs. She eased it on slowly and squeezed a good amount of the spermicide on the condom, moving her hand around it to cover him in an even coat. John groaned and closed his eyes. He had been waiting for this for far too long.

"Ready?"

Munch nodded his head. "More then ready, Maria." Watching her get up and slowly lower herself on him, John tried his best to not grip her hips too hard from the sensations rocking through his body, but the sight of her grinding her teeth told him otherwise. "I'm sorry I'm gripping you too hard."

"It's okay. It actually seems to have heightened my own pleasure actually," Maria grinned, biting her bottom lip lightly. "Trying to keep your eyes open, baby?"

"I'm trying. Feels like the drinks I had at the party have heightened everything in my body." John commented softly, moving both hands up her body and cupping her breasts. "Mind leaning down and let me kiss you the way a man should kiss his woman?" He grinned and wrapped his arms around her back when she happily leaned down to kiss him. Slipping his tongue in and tasting her mouth, he groaned softly as she began to move over him.

Maria tilted her head slightly to deepen their passionate kiss and touched John's face softly. Once John bucked up and gripped her thighs with his hands, she broke the kiss and gasped sharply, giving him the chance to slip his mouth over a breast. Smiling lovingly at him, she placed her hand on the back of his neck and entangled her fingers in his short hair, feeling him sucking softly. "I swear you must be enjoying doing that then Ben does."

He released her breast and kissed her neck. "What makes you say that?"

"He does it for food. You're doing it for fun." She chuckled, biting her bottom lip again when he nibbled a sensitive area right below her ear. "My God, John. Do you have any idea what you're doing to me?"

"Highly possibly at this second." He whispered, breathing heavily against her already sweating shoulder, grazing his lips over her skin. "Not sure if I can last much longer though."

"Good to know because I sure can't." Both of her hands wove through his hair, gently gripping his short hair with her fingers, rocking her hips in a rhythmic motion. Their breathing and pants mixing together, John laid flat on his back and linked his fingers with her's, allowing her to hold his hands down by his head. Locking their eyes on each other, both John and Maria grunted softly as they climaxed together. Arching his back slightly when she slightly trembled, he closed his eyes and groaned from exhaustion.

Taking longer then it normally took her to move, Maria leaned over Munch and bowed her head to catch her breath and to allow her mind to return to Earth. Feeling him grip her fingers in his, she raised her head and noticed he was grinning at her. "Maria? Still with me?"

"Kinda, but not really," she replied, softly chuckling. "My soul seems to have left my body and soared among the stars. Still waiting for it to return." They both laughed lightly and kissed. "That was amazing, John."

John placed a hand on her back and rolled them both over to their sides, not wanting to extract himself just yet. "With you, it's always amazing." He lightly touched her face and grazing his fingers along the scar on her neck. "I've said it once already and I'm going to say it again - I love you."

"I never get tired of you saying that to me because I love you just as much."

Holding her close and pressing his face into her shoulder for a moment to take in her post-sex scent, Munch inhaled a slow breath and kissed her collar bone. "I'm glad you have finally retired," He finally said, whispering so softly Maria almost didn't hear what he said. "I would get so worried watching you leave and not having me at your side as your partner and Sergent."

"You're still a Sergent to me. At least now we can sleep in together on those early mornings, enjoy each other's company and watch Ben grow up."

"I'm still going to say he said his first word and it wasn't babble."

Maria laughed. "Your ego is showing."

"It better be. It grew to the size of Mount Everest when I heard it." He happily gloated, slipping his hand under her left thigh and extracting himself. "I'm go to get cleaned up."

"Okay. I should check on the baby then." She slowly moved to sitting up and then laid back down. "Maybe I should wait a minute. My legs are shaking like crazy from our bone shaking sex."

Barely out the door to head to the bathroom, John stopped to see her laying back down. "How about I check on him? Let your body relax and I'll bring over some water for you, okay?" Seeing her raise a hand and wave to him, he headed to the bathroom to clean up and checked on the baby.

Seeing Ben was sleeping soundly with his pacifier moving every now and then as he dreamed, John checked to make sure he was covered well enough with his favorite blanket. His rattle had been placed on the side table near the crib earlier. "I love you, Ben." He whispered, stroking the baby's head gently with the back of his fingers.

Remembering the grab Maria a glass of water, he finally pulled himself away from the crib and filled a glass. Walking into the bedroom and sitting down beside her, he noticed she had fallen asleep while trying to move into a better position. He caressed her cheek to slowly wake her and waited until she moved to sit up. "Here you go."

She took the glass and drained it in one breath. "Thank you. How's Ben?"

"Sleeping like a baby should be. His little pacifier moving while he dreams." He stood and moved the comforter back on the bed, since he himself had kicked it off without knowing. "I'm going to loose a man-card, but I'm going to say it's very cute seeing it move as he sleeps."

Placing the glass on the side table to take care of later, Maria waited for him to join her so she could cuddle up against him. "Isn't it? I've caught myself watching him sleep when he has it with him. Scott did the same thing; his mouth would move in a nursing motion while sleeping and he would wake himself up sometimes from it. Gave him the pacifier as an experiment and he would sleep longer during rough nights. Thunderstorms at night were no longer a big thing to him anymore once he had it with him."

John draped an arm over her and held her close, closing his eyes with a smile. "Just a few more days, Mar." They laid there in silence for a few minutes until he mentioned a last thought. "Did I tell you my mother's going to help with the moving?"

"Really? And when were you going to tell me this?" Maria lifted her head, showing she wasn't entirely amused. "You know I'm trying not to stress with the move coming up, but that's helping me. The move is three days away!"

Nervously chuckling to himself, Munch tucked a dark strand behind her ear and hoped it was going to calm her just a little. "I know and I'm sorry. I just remembered since I was going through various things in my mind that we need to take care of and...at least I told you now and not five minutes before she walked through the door."

"You're lucky I love you," She sighed, softly patting his cheek. "And you're lucky you're the father of my child."

**To be continued...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank, Ben Munch and Leah Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Three days later:

John Munch placed his prized vinyl records in a specifically made box and closed it carefully. The three movers they hired headed out of the apartment, carrying the couch and several boxes to the truck. The three men were recommended from various moving companies and treated their belongings carefully and respect, but he didn't want him vinyls to be touched. He was going to transport them to his car instead.

Ben Munch sat in his bouncer chair, mouthing his rattle and watching everyone with his eyes. His bag had been filled with diapers, wipes, clothes, bottles, toys and blanket in case he needed them through the day. Hearing someone near him, he looked up and mumbled a gurgle as a mover bent down to look at him. The young man removed his one glove and wiggled his fingers. "Hi, little guy." Ben furrowed his forehead and babbled softly to this unknown person.

Noticing he had grown quiet, Maria peeked over the box she was packing and saw Ben, who was seven feet from her, had company. "Did Ben make a new friend?" She asked happily, smiling when the baby turned his head towards her voice and smiled at her.

The mover chuckled softly and watched the four month old baby wave his rattle around, cooing to himself. "He's a cutie," He commented, watching Ben drop his toy. He quickly picked it up and handed it to him, stopping him from crying before he started. "How old is he?"

"Four months. He's going to be five months in about a week or so." Maria stood up and wiped her hands on her leg jeans. "How's the bedroom doing?"

"The bedroom is empty as of five minutes ago and taking a small break since Mitch and Duke are busy rearranging a few things around in the truck." He explained, rocking the bouncy seat a little with a finger. "In five minutes I can get going since they'll figure it out by that time."

Hearing a familiar voice coming down the hallway, Maria fully knew John's mother was on her way down. "Now where is that wonderful and splendid grandson of mine located!"

_Uh-oh. _"Prepare yourself Ben. Momma Munch is comin' in." She warned the baby, unstrapping and lifting him up into her arms. Leah Munch, John's mother, walked in and scanned the almost bare apartment and noticed Maria with the baby. "Hi, Leah."

Leah walked over at a quick pace and scooped the baby up from her arms, hugging him close. "My God, Maria. This is one gorgeous baby! I knew he was a cutie when John emailed me photos of him, but seeing him in person is completely different." The tall woman began to baby talk to the infant and laughed when he babbled back to her, reaching up to touch her glasses. "Aren't you just a cutie cute." She pouted her lips a little, walking away to have a baby talk conversation with the baby.

John returned from placing the box of vinyls in his car and saw his mother had slipped by without saying hi to him. He didn't take it personally since she had been wanting to see the baby since he called the day after he was born. "Hi, mom," He smiled, hugging her carefully as to not harm cooing Ben. "Thank you so much for coming down and helping us. Maria's been having a hard time with Ben's demands and watching the movers since I'm trying to some last minute packing."

Leah gave her son a one arm hug. "Oh, no no. Don't worry, Johnny. I am here to help take one responsibility off your hands while you two get settled." She turned her attention to her grandson and cooed to him softly. "Now let's go have some play time."

Cringing from the baby talk and watching her walk into the now bare bedroom to play with Ben, Munch shook his head and helped Maria finish packing the box. "Is this the last of the dishes?" She nodded and lifted it up, handing it to the young mover. "What else do we need?"

"Um, I'm not sure." Frank looked around and noticed everything else was being taken care of. "I'm going to admit - I'm not used to movers taking care of everything."

* * *

"Babababa," Ben's loud babble bounced around the empty room that was to be his own room. While John and Fin went to get some lunch for everyone - including the movers - Maria and Leah watched Ben explore his new surroundings while laying on his floor mat. Scooting his arms under him and lifting up just a little, he attempted to try and get on his knees.

It was something he had been doing for the past half hour and both women were watching and waiting to see what he would doing. "How is Johnny taking fatherhood? He always sounds so happy and exhausted every time we talk on the phone."

"He's adapted to being a father very well and he loves and adores Ben. Sure, he grumbles and mutters when Ben cries in the middle of the night, but he always gets up when it's his turn and plays with him. You should have seen his face when Ben said 'Dada' at my retirement party. Doesn't matter to John if it was babble or not, his ego grew ten times its normal size." The both laughed and she clapped her hands when Ben partially rolled onto his side. "You should be very proud of John and how quickly he adapted to his needs."

Leah's features took on a glowing element. She really was proud of her son. "I've always been very proud of John, but after his last divorce, I had fears for him not being able to father children. He was always so good with Bernie and he's always been very fond of kids. After I met you, I wished you two had met each other much earlier in life so you two could have a family with a few kids or adopt after retirement." She took a hold of Maria's hand and squeezed it. "Looks like my prayers were partially answered."

Maria inhaled a slow breath and thought very carefully how she was going to word what she had been thinking about for weeks. "Leah, there's something I've been thinking about for a number of weeks now. John doesn't know it and I trust you deeply to not tell him this but...I've been thinking about getting a hysterectomy." Momma Munch didn't say anything, but nodded her head slowly. "It's more for my sake, as selfish as it sounds, but it's also for John. We're both terrified about another condom breaking since that's how Ben was conceived. We've used various other none-hormonal contraceptives for both him and myself, but it's really wearing us down."

"And Johnny wouldn't want to be 'clipped'?"

Maria shook her head. "No. He's mentioned in the past and present he wouldn't because 'it would lower my ego' in his own words."

Leah rolled her eyes and chuckled. "That's my son for you. Do you know when you'll want the procedure?"

"Sometime when Ben's older and John won't need my help for a number of weeks so I can recover. I can't believe I'm going to say this but, we're nervous about having sex. We haven't been able to do it as much as we used to since we have Ben to care for and because we're scared I'm going to get pregnant again. When we do have sex, it's rushed in a way to just get it out of the way. If I do get pregnant, it can affect the fetus and my health. We were dreadfully lucky Ben's extremely healthy without prenatal care, but that luck isn't going to strike twice. Not at our ages."

"I can fully understand, dear." Her dark eyes scanned over her future daughter-in-law before looking over at her dark haired grandson, happily gnawing on his bright toy keys. "Do what you believe is right for you, John and Ben, Mar. If you strongly feel having the surgery can help make things easier, then go ahead and do it." Maria finally nodded her head, watching her son push himself on his belly in the direction of his mother, squealing as he pushed himself along. "He really is a happy infant."

"He's always happy, but when he gets upset, he's hard to console. Ninety percent of the time he's smiling, laughing, giggling, or just babbling away. I have my suspicions he's going to be an early talker." Holding her hands out for Ben, she waited until he reached her and lifted him up, kissing his pudgy cheek. "Who's my baby boy?" She asked happily.

The little Munch squealed and held his hands to his face, smiling and drooling at the same time. Mrs. Munch smiled and suggested something Maria never thought she was going to hear. "How about after you two get settled in, I can watch him for a few hours and give you and John alone time."

Maria froze for a moment and turned her head slowly, not noticing a small amount of drool dripped onto her hand. "Did I just hear you're suggesting to take Ben off of our hands so we could 'get busy' in a way."

Momma Munch nodded, her face brightening just a little. "Yes I did. I'm a mother - John's mother - and I know how much of a toll it takes. There were times when I wanted to leave both Bernie and Johnny with a relative and spend time with my late husband. In reality, there's nothing wrong with me taking Ben for a few hours and letting you both have some very personal time."

She laughed with a hint of nervousness, shaking her head. "I swear to God, you keep surprising me. A mother suggesting her son and future daughter-in-law to shtup is new to me."

"From one mother to another mother," She pulled Maria into a small hug in a way of support. "Sometimes you need to drop the child somewhere and be alone together with the man of your life. A nice dinner, soft music... I can tell that's what you need, Maria."

She nodded her head and looked down at the baby in her arms, letting him mouth and gnaw on her fingers. "We'll figure something out and I'll talk with him about the surgery. He knows how much pain I'm in every month, too, so taking a chance with the surgery would be key to ending my suffering without depending on drugs all the time." Ben's began to softly cry in hunger, his face wrinkling up to get their attention. "One thing's for sure, taking meds while nursing him is getting tricky every now and then."

Leah stood up and motioned to the kitchen. "What me to get you a bottle or are you going to nurse him instead."

"Nah, I think I'll nurse him. He's been given the bottle quite a bit for the past few days, so I'm going to nurse him."

"I'll give you some space then." She offered softly, watching Maria get comfortable on the comfortably rugged bedroom floor.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"Okay, this is what we got," Fin announced, placing the paper bags of warm food on the polished dining table. "Neither of us were up to waiting for food, so we stopped for some fast-food." Leah Munch scanned through the McDonald's bags and pulled out one hot french fry.

John Munch looked around, noticing Maria wasn't around. "Where's Mar?"

"In the baby's room. Nursing him," His mother pointed in the direction behind her, where a door was partially open. "He was getting fussy and she wanted to nurse instead of giving him the bottle."

Munch picked up her food and headed in the direction of the room, slowly pushing the door open with his foot. Maria lifted her head and smiled softly at him, Ben clutching her lifted shirt with his tiny fist as he nursed. "Hey, sweetie. I have food."

"What'd you get?" She asked, repositioning her hold of the nursing infant. "Oooh, haven't had McDonald's in a long time." John sat down beside her and opened the box to her chicken sandwich, placing it down on a napkin. "Did you get me a drink?"

"Your favorite," He held up the drink container and popped her straw in. "Sweet tea with a few squirts of unsweetened tea. Just what you like."

Maria smiled and leaned over to kiss him softly. "Thank you for the food. The movers eating?" He nodded and drank from his coffee. "Good. They deserve it." She scooted closer and leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment.

Leah Munch peeked in through the crack at the door, smiling to herself. She knew they were right for each other and proud they were still together with the little one with her.

* * *

Two days later:

Maria Frank repositioned the framed photo on Ben's bedroom wall and stepped back to see what effort had been done. After the first night in their new home, with Leah sleeping in a spare bedroom, Maria had planned to get the baby's room done within the first week.

Happy with her handy work, she reached for the hammer in her back pocket and moved to another side of the room to hang up a handmade quilt John's mom had made for Ben as a welcome-to-your-own-room present. It was designed with animals playing basketball - something John approved from the second he saw it. Keeping an eye on Ben in his playpen, mouthing a teether toy from Olivia and leaning against a stuffed animal he was using to sit up. He was getting better sitting up on his own, but would lean back against his stuffed toy when he got tired. "Are we having fun, Ben?" Maria cooed happily, getting his attention.

His babbles were muffled by the toy in his mouth and she laughed. Laughing when she laughed, the baby pulled the toy from his mouth and babbled, "Dada."

She froze at the word and looked at him. "Did you say 'Dada' or was that babble again?" At his age of four months, it was hard for them to know if he was really saying his first word or just saying random babble. She placed the hammer and quilt down, picking up the baby. She furrowed her forehead and Ben copied her expression. Smirking at him and cocking an eyebrow, Maria thought out loud to herself. "You're not an ordinary baby, are you? Either you're enjoying tormenting my mind and having me think your saying your first word or I'm going crazy."

John Munch, who had been downstairs in the living room placing books on their bookshelves, came up and noticed she was standing in the middle of the room. Both seemed to be in a staring contest. "Who's winning?"

"He is at this point, but you have to hear this. I think he's saying his first word." John rushed over and observed Ben carefully, watching for any hint of saying anything. "Come on, baby boy. Can you say it again?"

"Dada!" Ben clapped his hands together and laughed at the surprised expressions they gave him. Holding his hands together and shoving his fingers in his mouth, the youngest Munch mumbled some muffled babble and cooed through his drool.

John was glowing once again and took Ben into his hands, grinning from ear to ear. "You said Dada! Mom! Ben said his first word!"

Leah rushed up from the kitchen just in time to hear Ben say 'Dada' once more. "Oh, my! My Grandson said his first word." She cooed happily, and tickled the baby's belly with her fingers. He wiggled happily in John's arms and laughed, waving his arms. "You're growing up so fast, Benjamin."

Maria reached her arm out and linked her arm with John's, resting her head against his shoulder. "Rolling over seems to be his challenge though. Talking early seems to be in his genes, however." John gave her a look and she smiled. "Once he starts talking, he won't stop, John."

Kissing Ben's soft-haired head, Munch couldn't stop glowing and could feel Maria was glowing just as bright as he was. "He's a Munch and it's what we do best!"

Leah Munch held her hands out for her grandson and touched her nose with his, grinning happily. "That's my grandson. All males in the Munch family have spoken early. Johnny never stopped after his first and neither did Bernie. Mind if I take him down and lay him down on his floor mate in the kitchen? You two look exhausted and should get some lay down." She observed, holding Ben on her hip.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Laying down together and holding hands, John and Maria stared up at the ceiling, watching the fan slowly spin around. Both of them were still in shock about Ben's first word and were very silent to allow it to sink in.

Moments later, John whispered, "He said his first word."

"I know, sweetheart. I couldn't quite understand it when he said it at my retirement party, but when he said it again today... It is his first word." She grasped his fingers with her and turned her head to see his eyes had misted over. "Oh, John..."

He shook his head slowly and muttered, "Never thought I'd get to hear that." Wiping the tears away with the back of his hand, John heavily sighed to calm his emotions. "Hell, I'm proud of my boy."

"I'm so proud of him, too." Frank grinned and reached her free hand out to wipe a stray tear away. "It's okay to cry, John. I've shed a few tears myself over it and will shed more when he learns to roll over, crawl, walk... They do grow up fast."

Inhaling a slow breath and rolling over to face Maria, he nuzzled her neck and smiled. "Don't remind me." His glowing face changed to sorrowful. "Will I still be here when he graduated from high school? I don't know."

Feeling sadness overtake her joy, Maria released his hand and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. "Oh, John. Please, don't think about that. I'm sorry I mentioned about him growing up fast and causing you to think of that." He nodded against her, gripping her firmly as if he didn't want to let go. "Let's just focus on him growing up one day at a time and since we're retired now, we won't have any meetings or overtime keeping us away from him as he grows." She kissed his temple and neck, hoping to calm him.

"I know and I've tried my damn hardest to think and focus on that, but you know how I am. I got off thinking these things and knocking myself into a depressed situation."

Gently shushing him and hugging him close, Frank reached one hand down and began to unbutton his shirt. "How about this to help you; let's lay together with nothing on and just cuddle."

"No sex?"

"No. I'm too exhausted right now and your mother is in the house." She whispered, finishing undoing his buttons and opening it to reveal his undershirt. "Just the thought of my skin touching yours is calming me." Showing a tight smile, John sat up and they slowly removed each other's clothes in silent.

Curling up under the covers together, Maria rested her head on his outstretched arm and sighed in content. John draped his arm over her waist and nuzzled her shoulder with his nose, placing a small kiss on her bare skin. "Right now, this is better then sex." He commented, closing his eyes peacefully.

"At this moment, yes." She replied with a murmur, drifting in and out from exhaustion. "Your own mother offered to watch Ben for a few hours so we can have intimacy once we're fully settled in."

Munch opened an eye slowly. "Really? She really offered that?"

"She did. I've said this once and I'll say it again: you have a great mother." She sighed and nuzzled closer to him, feeling his arm under her neck wrap around to hold her. "I told her we really haven't had a chance to take it slow since we've been sleeping when Ben sleeps and caring for him in between. The only time we were able to have a slow moment was after my retirement party and even that didn't feel good enough for our stress."

"Hm. Makes sense. I'll have to agree with mom and you," He muttered.

Maria thought for a moment before mentioning her next idea. "What would you say if I had a hysterectomy?"

"Meaning removing your reproductive stuff?" He opened both eyes now with interest. She nodded slowly and opened her eyes as well, wondering what he would say. "Why? I'm not objecting to it, but I'm more interested in why."

"We've been going crazy using more protection then just a condom and you know how we're both exhausted from that, right?" He agreed with a nod. "Well, to take care of that problem and my fear of accidentally conceiving another child by having the surgery. We were very lucky to have Ben be as healthy as he is, but what if I have another? What are the chances of being lucky a second time? I'm not as young as I used to be and the chances of medical complications for me and the unborn child are up higher."

John nodded his head slowly and leaned in to kiss her forehead, whispering, "What ever you believe is right for you, me and Ben is all right by me. I am tired of us taking extra precautions and it's really taking the fun out of us having sex." He flashed her a smile and she returned it. "Go for it, baby."

Grinning and kissing him on the lips, Maria hugged him. "Thank you, John. Thank you so much."

"Whatever makes life a little easier for us, Mar. You know I'll accept it." He said softly, resting his head back down on the pillow and closing his eyes. "That's one reason why I love you. You try and find a way to make life a little more easier for us."

"Same about you, John. You listen to me," She replied, closing her eyes as well. "Listen to me better then anyone else I knew."

**To be continued...**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank, Ben Munch and Leah Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. **

Two weeks later:

"C'mon, Ben. You can do it, son!" Maria Frank urged Ben Munch while laying on the living room floor. The baby had been slowly working on crawling and rolling over for the past few weeks every time he had been placed on the floor.

He was stuck on his side again while attempting to roll over. "Bababa!" He loudly said, tilting his head up a little to look at his mother, watching her clap her hands. "Baba."

"Yes, Ben. 'Baba' is right. Just one more little push and you'll be on your back." She smiled, talking to him at his level and showed him how to roll over by demonstrating herself. John watched from the doorway and held back his laughter as Maria rolled over from her stomach to her back. "See! It's really easy, Ben. If I can do it, you can do it, too." She rolled back over to her stomach and earned a clap and laughter from the baby.

"I think he's telling you to do it again for his own humor." John remarked, watching his future wife shake her head slowly at Ben. "Looks like he's getting closer to fully rolling over though." He sat down on the floor and patted the floor with his hand. "You can do it, Ben. Just one more big push."

Seeing his parents were both cheering him on, Ben squealed and, with a kick of his foot, rolled over onto his back. Praising and clapping their hands, Maria and John happily cheered him for finally rolling over. The baby laughed and clapped his hands together, mimicking his parents. Munch got up and lifted up his son, hugging him close. "Hey mom! Want to film this and take home to show Bernie? Ben just rolled over for the first time."

Leah grabbed the video camera and sat down on the couch, pressing play. John placed Ben down on his back and sat down next to Maria. For the next ten minutes, they coaxed him to roll back over with praises and clapping of hands. Enjoying the attention, Ben Munch laughed and rolled right over onto his stomach, kicking his legs out to push himself to his parents. Reaching John's outstretched hands, he reached a hand up and pulled himself up just enough to pass as a semi crawl.

"Good job!" Maria praised happily and clapped her hands, watching Munch lift him up. Ben happily waved his arms and laughed. "You are so right, Ben. Laugh all you want, sport."

Munch hugged his son and rocked him slowly until he fell silent, yawning against John's chest. "Looks like it's nap time for baby," He noted with his voice at a whisper. "I'm going to put him down." He walked up the stairs to Ben's room and laid him down in the crib Elliot had loaned them. Turning on the mobile to sooth him to fall asleep faster, John stood over the crib and gently stroked his son's soft hair with a small smile. "I love you, Ben, and I'm so proud of you."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Leah Munch turned off her video camera and closed it until she heard the click. Lifting her head and see Maria rolling up the baby floor mat, she frowned slightly and thought to ask, "Mind if I stay for for another another week? I know you two might be fully settled in and everything, but-"

"Of course you can stay," Frank smiled, seeing the oldest Munch was struggling with what to say. "I can see where John gets his nervousness of what to say with some topics. I had a feeling you were going to want to stay for a while longer. You know, it would be really good for the three of us to have some extra hands around to either make meals or watch Ben while we catch up on sleep." She placed the floor mat in the corner and wiped her hands on her jeans - something she had done out of habit from day one. "I actually told John about you wanting to give us some personal time and he's very...I don't know if happy is the right word, but that's what I'll go with." Leah chuckled and nodded her head slowly. "But anyway, it's something he's looking forward to and so am I."

Momma Munch smiled and placed her hand on her shoulder carefully. "Just tell me the word and I'll take Ben away for a few hours to give you the free time. Did you tell him about the surgery you're planning?"

"I did and he believes I should go ahead and do it. I did some reading up and it's pretty simple, even though it sounds so big and complicated. with today's technology, my recovery time should be shorter." She sat down the couch and crossed one leg over the other. "Since that's true, I could probably have it before we get married, so we wouldn't have to worry about protection every second."

"Do you know when you'll get married?"

"Not yet. We did have some basic plans, but then I had Ben and we've had to push them back a bit. We are hoping to get married when he's a little over a year old so we can have a family vacation some place instead of a honeymoon." Maria sighed and rubbed her temples. "We will have a honeymoon later on, but having the baby with us after we get married because we feel it's right for him to be with us. He's a special boy, the only child we'll have and it feels right."

Hearing John slowly coming down the stairs, both women looked up to see him standing there with a small smile. "Want to come up for a shower, Mar?" He asked softly, barely hinting why he wanted her up there. Looking at Leah with a smile, Maria stood up and followed him up, holding his hand.

Making it to their new larger bathroom and undressing each other, John waited until she stepped into the hot shower before joining her. "Why this sudden invitation for a double shower?" She asked softly, his arms wrapping around her waist. He gave a small shrug and kissed her lightly. "We can't do any sort of intimate action in the shower with your mom in the house." She warned him with a look.

"I know that, but it's nice to have a challenge," He whispered next to her ear, his long fingers grazing down her back. He slowly grinned when she shuddered against his touch. "C'mon. Just a little fun?"

Maria sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I know we haven't had as much fun as we normally do-"

"We normally go at it like monkeys!" He broke her off with this gazed and dreaming look on his face.

She laughed and blushed slightly. "Yes, we normally do, but we've had Ben to care for and we've been sleeping in-between him being awake. Kinda hard to have a moving and sexual moment when we're half asleep, you know?"

"Yes, I know." He brushed his fingers along her cheek and gave her a small smile when she closed her eyes at the contact. "For me? Please?"

Seeing he was suffering a little more then she was with helping around and not having any release before or after moving into their new home, Maria agreed and slowly fell to her knees, placing small kisses along his chest, stomach and lower abdomen. "Just be sure to keep yourself silent, okay?"

John nodded and tucked a wet strand of dark hair behind her ear, closing his eyes when she kissed the side of his semi-erect shaft. Bracing himself against the wall with his hands, he opened his eyes and watched her run her tongue slowly along his length. With the water pounding against his back and the pleasure Maria was providing for him, he knew he wasn't going to last very long. He muttered "shit" when she hummed softly along his shaft a few minutes later.

"Shhh. Easy John." She grinned up at him, caressing his hips and backside with her hands softly. "You can control yourself, baby. Just concentrate as best you can."

"I'm trying. I just don't know how much longer I can hang on." He closed his eyes and exhaled a slow breath, trying to steady himself.

"That's fine. I'm not expecting you to last ten minutes anyway." Maria looked in front of her, admiring his length for a moment. "When you're ready to climax, you're ready. Just warn me with a tap to my shoulder or something." John nodded and closed his eyes once again, feeling her mouth against him.

Groaning softly when she very carefully grazed her teeth along the head, he gritted his teeth and opened his eyes to watch her. Feeling his abdomen muscles tightening and his breathing becoming more heavier, he quickly tapped Maria's bare shoulder and she moved away a split second he came, barely missing being hit. Gripping the shower wall as best he could to steady himself before his knees buckled, Munch opened his eyes slowly and watched Frank wash her shoulder off with a wash cloth. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you."

"You can't control the direction you go in," She smirked and wiped her cheek as well. "Just as long I don't taste, we're good."

John laughed when she winked at him and helped her up to her feet. Taking the wash cloth, rising it off and cleaning her cheek and shoulder clean with some soap, he lightly kissed her lips and said softly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Let's get washed up and dressed before your mother starts to wonder if we've fallen down and drowned in here." She reached for the soap to wash his back when he started chuckling to himself. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, just the thought of us 'falling down' in here is provocative." He wiggled his eyebrows and earned a well-earned playful slap to his backside. Stifling a yelp and trying hard not to laugh, he pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, smart ass."

* * *

A few days later, John was sitting with his mother as he hand fed some baby rice cereal to Ben. Maria was taking a chance to sleep in late after being up most of the night with a fussy baby. A thunderstorm had disrupted the little Munch's sleep schedule and caused all three adults to stay up to calm his fears as lightening flashed brightly in the dark skies. "Mom, can I ask a question?"

Leah nodded her head and wiped Ben's chin, watching Munch stir the very thin food.

"I know you told Maria you would watch Ben for a few hours while we have some alone time, but I was wondering if you could stay here with Ben for a few days."

She tilted her head slightly to look in her son's face. "What are you thinking of?"

"I'm thinking of taking Maria to a Bed and Breakfast for a few days so we can really have some personal time alone and not worrying about having to rush it a little. I really want her to slow down and enjoy our time. She's been moving at a rapid pace since Ben was born and it's wearing both of us out when we're alone with quick quickies." He blushed slightly at his reference of what they were doing and tried hard to not have his mother notice.

His mother laughed and quickly silenced herself from startling Ben and awaking Maria from her slumber. "Oh, Johnny. That's fine! I don't mind watching the baby for a few days while you two shtup around at a Bed and Breakfast. At Ben's age, he's over the critical ages and it will give us both a chance to know each other more." She wrapped her arm around her son's shoulders and pulled him in for an oddly positioned hug. "Raising Ben and finding time to be alone will come easier the older he gets. I promise it will,"she whispered, noticing he was looking exhausted the closer she got to him. "I swear on my future grave it will get easier and watching this boy grow up to be a respectable and highly intelligent young man is going to be all worth the sleepless nights."

"I hope so," He small smile turned into a concerned expression the more he watched the baby sitting up happily in his seat. "I am worried how Ben will understand about his mother's scars. He will notice them as he gets older and he might even wake up to her nightmares and episodes at night. Will he understand the horrors she went through? Might he blab to his friends in school when we explain it to him? Will he be afraid of his own mother once he learns?"

Leah shook her head firmly and took the bowl from John's hands, feeding Ben who was beginning to react from his father's fears. His little bottom lip was beginning to tremble the more he sensed John's rising anxiety over something that wasn't going to be explained for another few years. "Johnathan Munch. I've raised you better then this. With the smarts and intelligence you and Maria have now shared with this child, I do not see him 'blabbing' to any friends he will have. Don't doubt what he will think or feel about what happened to Mar just because of past cases you worked. This child is going to extremely bright and understand it more then you think."

"What makes you think that?"

"Bernie understood your father passing better then any of us thought he could have. You were older, but you understood it better then most at your age. Ben will understand and he will ask questions about her scars at a very young age. When he does, make it sound simple at first and the more he asks, the more you explain."

John nodded his head and smiled down at Ben, who was babbling to get his attention. "I just don't want to scare him, mom."

Leah pressed her lips to her son's forehead and sadly smiled at him. "Don't worry about it. You have a number of years to go before it gets to that point. Now, before the baby begins to fuss over not being fed his food, let's just finish feeding him and plot over the Bed and Breakfast plan you want to have for Maria."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Opening the bedroom door slowly and seeing Maria Frank was still asleep, John carefully walked in and sat down on the bed. Lowering the comforter just enough to see her face, he gently touched her face and she began to stir. "Morning, sweetie. Going to get up today?" He asked with a small smile, seeing her eyes open just a little. When she didn't move to sit up, he leaned down and kissed every inch of her face. "C'mon. I have a surprise for you." He whispered near her ear.

"What?" She muttered, rolling over just enough for him to kiss her lips. "What surprise?"

He laid down on her chest and rested his chin near her face so he could brush his lips against her skin and talk to her. "I made some reservations at a Bed and Breakfast for this weekend so you and I can have a few days alone. Mom's going to watch Ben for us and call us in case of an emergency. Jut three days of us, a bottle of wine, some great food and lots of playing around for us."

Maria grinned and pulled her arm out from under the covers, holding him close as he moved to wrap his arms around her. "Don't you mean 'fucking around'?"

Munch blushed a little and he laughed softly. "Yes, I mean that." He nuzzled her neck and nipped her neck lovingly. "I mean that in the best possible ways."

"I'm sure you do," Frank closed her eyes and smiled as he continued kissing and nibbling her neck. Gasping when he began sucking on her sensitive spot under her ear, she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him away just a little. "Hold it, spike. Let's save our energy since the weekend is only two days away."

He moved to sit up and sighed, trying to calm his resolve. "Well, you might as well get going with filling some bottles for Ben." He avoided a swinging arm and laughed cheerfully. "Hey, it's true!"

"I feel like a cow being milked at this point," She muttered, sitting up to grab for a pair of house pants. Walking into the kitchen and reaching for a bagel Leah had freshly made for her, she picked up the clean breast pump and an empty bottle bag. She sat at the table and smiled at Ben, who reached a hand out and cooed happily. "Hi, baby. Did we enjoy some cereal?" He stuck out his tongue and laughed. "How much of his food did he eat?"

Leah glanced into the bowl and did a small calculation in her head. "I'd say around half a cup of rice cereal at the most." She crossed her left leg over her right, refilling her mug of hot water for her tea. "He might be wanting to be breast fed at this point." She held her hand out for the pump as Maria handed it to her and watched her hold the baby on her lap. "What me to get you anything while you're nursing him?"

Maria thought for a moment as she lifted her shirt and one side of her bra, exposing her left breast for Ben. "Um, I don't know. Maybe a cup of orange juice and my meds?" She looked down and waited until the baby latched on before raising her head. "I know I haven't taken them, so I should take them now while I'm here." She watched her leave to the kitchen and sighed when John reached out to massage her shoulder. "The few days away might just be what I need at this point. After this, I need to fill a few more bottles then what we have in the fridge."

"Aren't there some in the freezer?" He asked, forking up some eggs and popping it in his mouth.

"Yeah, there are. From the calculations in my head, I can fill up two bottles and Momma Munch can use the ones in the freezer as well." She looked down at Ben, his fists holding fistful of her shirt. "I'm wondering what to do when I get engorged over the weekend."

John raised his dark eyebrows and leaned close, whispering, "I can take care of that." He winked when she blushed and went back to paying attention to his breakfast.

Shaking her head slightly as the image of him 'taking care of it' wondered into her mind, Maria went back to paying attention to Ben and noticed he had fallen asleep while nursing. Slipping her fingers between his mouth and her skin, she unlatched them and cradled him on her shoulder. She used one hand to lower her clothes back down and her other to pat his back until she heard him burp in his sleep. "Didn't expect him to fall asleep so fast, but he did have a busy night."

"Here you go," Leah handed Maria a glass of orange juice and her medication bottles. "Looks like Ben fell asleep while you were nursing him. What me to lay him down?"

Frank shook her head and swallowed her pills. "It's okay. I'll probably just sit on the couch, fill his bottles and hold him against me." She looked up when John stood and headed to place his dishes in the sink, his fingers grazing over her arm. "It's a comfort thing we've noticed when he would fall asleep in our arms and we would find it hard to lay him down when holding him was comforting enough for us." She turned her head slightly to look in their son's sleeping face. "It's hard to describe how glad I am he's very healthy and happy."

Mrs. Munch shook her head slightly with a small smile on her lips. "I probably don't with the age you had him at, but I do understand being glad when your offspring are healthy and happy." She leaned forward and gently brushed Ben's soft, dark hair. "Never seen a happier child at this rate."

Smiling and standing up, she moved into the living room and sat down comfortably on the couch. Having learned how to keep a firm hold on a sleeping baby on her shoulder while doing something else, unbuttoned her shirt and lowered the bra strap to expose herself just enough. "John? Can you get me a blanket? I'm going to get cold during this, I know it."

Picking up a small blanket and placing it over the chest that was exposed, he helped her position the breast pump and pressed the on button. "All set?" Nodding her head and leaning slightly to kiss him softly, he turned and headed back to the kitchen to finish the dishes.

Feeling Ben's warm breath against her neck and sighing heavily as he headed into a dream, Maria Frank reached for the remote and clicked on a channel to keep her awake for the next twenty minutes to fill one bottle. If she hadn't turned something on, the sound of the baby sleeping on her shoulder would have certainly caused her to drift off.

**To be continued...**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben Munch were created by me. Leah Munch is someone I came up to introduce. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU. Annnnd, adult content.**

A few days later -

"C'mon, Maria. He's going to be just fine with mom," John coaxed Maria with his hand on her shoulder. For the past half hour after finishing with their packing, she had begun to list off various things Leah was going to need or do for Ben while they were away for three days of alone time together. John's mother knew fully well what they were really going to be doing, but she understood completely and was the one who suggested they get some alone time.

Nodding she was coming along, she picked up Ben out of his playpen and hugged him as tightly as his little body could take. "Going to be a good boy for Bubbe?"

The baby placed his hands on her face and babbled with a toothless smile on his face. "Awwoo. Bababa." He kicked his legs out and popped her in the stomach with his bare feet. "Dada."

"Dada's going with mommy, sport." John smiled, allowing his son to grasp his finger with his tiny fist. "We'll be back in a few days and we'll bring home a present for you, too."

As if he understood, Ben laughed and wiggled happily in his mother's arms. Noticing he was being lifted up by his grandmother, he watched them head out the door for an hour drive to a Bed and Breakfast for a weekend alone.

Feeling her normal separation anxiety kicking in, Maria practically almost forced herself to sit down in the car and close the door. "He'll be okay with my mom, Mar," John whispered after they hit the high way, waiting a while before saying anything to her. "Ben will be just fine. If she can take on me, she can take on him."

She chuckled to herself and smiled at him. "Yeah, that's true. I just...didn't want to leave him alone since we haven't left him behind before." Her fingers played with the ring Munch had given her. "I know we need this time alone and I know I'm going to enjoy it very much, but this...thing...I'm feeling is very normal."

"I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying he's going to be just fine with my own mother", he reassured her carefully, linking his fingers with her. "Just take a few deep breaths and we'll be there in no time." Maria gave him a small smile and returned the hand squeeze. "Besides," He lowered his voice to something low and exciting for her, "This is going to be so much fun and pleasurable for us."

She turned away and blushed brightly to herself. She couldn't wait.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

A few hours later and after checking in, John unlocked the door and allowed Maria in first before locking the door again. Mere seconds after he placed his bags down, he was grabbed from behind and roughly turned to face a rather lustful looking Maria Frank. "Now, Mar. We have three days to play-"

"Don't matter," She cut him off softly with her finger against his lips. "I know we do, but at this point all I want is you against me and no clothes between us." He trembled slightly from her words and could feel his slacks becoming tighter, something she noticed rather quickly. "See? Looks like you get my drift."

Munch closed his eyes for a moment when her fingers slowly and gently creased over the tightness in his slacks and resisted the urge to toss her against her against the wall, taking her hard - protection or not. "Where are we going to do it?" He breathed out the words and fought to control himself.

"Um," She turned around and looked at the possible locations - the bed, floor, up against the wall was always an option or the table near the far wall. One too many choices for Maria to make and she could feel John was beginning to breath a little heavier behind her. He gripped her hand to silently tell her he couldn't stand it too much longer if she didn't just pick a spot and allow him to take her. "I don't know, John."

Locking his dark eyes on the table, he began to slowly inch in its direction and tugged on her hand to get her attention. "Hey, Mar." She turned her head and saw him tilting his head in one direction. "The table's looking pretty promising, you know." Seeing she was debating it once again, he sighed and pulled her close, allowing her to feel the almost painful feeling in his slacks. "Seriously, I'm ready to explode here just from looking and touching you." Munch whispered as his fingers pulled at the hem of her shirt.

Finally seeing the overwhelming fire burning in his eyes, Maria eyed the table and slowly smiled. Within seconds, he lifted her shirt up and off before reaching for her jeans, unbuttoning them in record time. Feeling her hands undoing the buttons of his shirt, they were both free of their clothes and hugging each other tightly. Kissing her deeply, John lifted her up onto the table and grabbed for his bag, where the box of condoms with spermicide and lubricant was located.

Quickly getting himself ready and making sure Maria was ready, he placed his hands under her legs and pulled her closer. Softly kissing her and running his hands gently over her chest, John gazed deeply into her's and slowly plunged into her. Gripping his shoulder with her hand and gasping, Frank grinned when he kissed her neck and began to move slowly to make them last as long as possible.

Maria held herself up with her hands behind her and one leg wrap around his hip. Starting to feel overwhelmed from just watching his face as he moved, she laid down on the table and arched her back when Munch moved closer and covered one of her breasts with his mouth. "Holy shit," She whispered, gripping the hairs on the back of his head from the sudden pleasure.

Chuckling deep in his throat, he moved up to nip on her collar bone and breathed into her ear, "did you like that?"

"Very," She panted and groaned when he sat up and slowly rotated his hips. "Oh, my God." Maria squirmed under his roaming hands and could feel herself getting closer the more he thrust deeply into her.

Groaning just from the sight of Maria nearing her peak, he couldn't resist moving faster until he climaxed. Arching his back and grunting softly, John placed his hand on her lower abdomen and felt Maria arch her own back and let out a weak groan in her attempt to not cry out. Holding himself up with trembling arms, he placed lazy kisses along her stomach and chest, tasting the sweat on his lips. "Mar? That was amazing," John softly said with a smile.

"You did all the work, silly." She commented, lifting her head for a moment to look at him.

"I know. I am amazing," He happily gloated and earned a soft slap to the shoulder. "Hey now. Keep that up and you won't get what I have in store for you later." He lowered his head and nipped at her side. She squirmed from the feel of his teeth and giggled. "I should get cleaned up and help you off the table, however."

Maria waved her hand, placing her other arm behind her head. "No, you go get cleaned up. I'm just going to lay here and wait for my body to stop trembling." She watched him pad off to the bathroom and slowly exhaled a breath. Still feeling her body relaxing after their body shaking fun, Frank placed her hand on her lower abdomen where his hand been when he climaxed. It was something he would do to feel her muscles spasming when she climaxed and it would often drive him crazy to the point of a second round moments later after a small break.

Grinning when he returned and helped her off, they hugged each other tightly as a sign of comfort and security. It wasn't because they felt uncomfortable, but just because of the events that brought them this far in their relationship and a little boy who came into the world without either of them knowing. When they worked together and were forbidden to make any sort of romantic comfort for each other, they would often lay in bed or stand in the middle of the living room and just hug. "I love you," John whispered moments later, lightly kissing her shoulder.

Maria pressed her face into his neck and breathed in his scent mixed with sweat. "I love you, too." She lifted her head and they kissed passionately, feeling fueled from just feeling each other's flesh under their hands. "How about we move this to the floor?"

Slowly grinning and eying the beautifully woven rug by their feet, John asked, "On top or bottom?"

* * *

Leah continued stirring warmed breast milk with the baby rice cereal. Humming to herself and smiling in Ben's direction, she watched him clap his hands together and wiggle his little toes happily. In only the few hours the two had been alone together, Ben was already warming up to his grandmother much faster then she expected. From how perfectly healthy he looked, his cheerfulness and watching almost everything around him, she could tell her son and future daughter-in-law did very well raising him this far. The older Munch had to admit she had seen children who didn't laugh or clapped at random moments, smiling at almost everyone or even attempt to show interest. The little Munch was showing as much interest he could at his age with her mixing a bowl of food for him.

After placing the partially empty bottle back in the fridge and closing the door, she noticed a list of baby food Maria was preparing to introduce to him when he was a little older and used to 'solids' more. Next to the list was a time sheet she had continually turned to and wrote on of his nursing schedule and Leah noticed this wasn't the first time she's done this. She knew Maria had another child some time ago and John mentioned the late Scott every now and then in emails he would write to his mother, but seeing the list and time sheet almost hit her hard. She understood Maria's fear of telling John when she found out she was pregnant with Scott, but it hurt her at the same time.

"Baba!" Ben's voice pulled her attention from the list and turned to face her grandson, who was looking at her with a pout while blowing bubbles from his mouth. Smiling down at him and pulling a chair over to sit in front of him, she rested her chin on the high chair tray and watched him lower his head down, as if he was trying to get down to her level. "Babababa."

"It's 'Bubbe', Ben. Can you say Bubbe?" She asked, referring to the Yiddish word for Grandmother. From the blank expression on his face, she guessed he wasn't going to try and laughed. "Well, okay. I guess that's too far advanced for you to handle, my dear." Leah spooned up a small amount of food and held it out for him. "Sorry I got distracted there for a minute. I just remembered your mother had another son long before she had you. From the pictures and description your father's given me, he looked just like you."

Understanding her low and somber tone of voice, Ben blinked a few times and fell quiet. "I know you can't understand what I'm saying, but you certainly understand my tone. It's not something I want you to sense since I want you to always be a happy and cheerful child, but you'll learn the sad truth when you're older about your older brother."

"Dada," he said, as if he knew just saying that was going to cheer her up. When Leah smiled, he smiled in return.

"Well, Dada and Momma are going to be home in a few days. They need some alone time to be together. You and I," She pointed to Ben and then to herself, "Are going to spend some time together, too."

Ben squealed with laughter, a dribble of drool dripping down his chin.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Collapsing after reaching another climax, Maria gripped what carpet she could under her fingers as John thrust once more from behind her. Laying with her back against his stomach, she could only muster a few inaudible words when John finally collapsed against her. "Say...that again?" He asked between pants.

"You, my dear man, are going to make it hard for me to walk," She muttered clearly, making a mental note to take pain killers when it comes. "I swear I don't think I can do anymore this evening." She attempted to untangle herself from his arms and legs, but it wasn't possible. One round on the table and two rounds on the floor had worn them both out. "I don't think I can move."

John lightly chuckled and pulled her shoulder length hair away from her sweaty face to kiss her cheek. "Going to stay awake for me to grab some dinner for us?"

"I swear that's all you think about, John - sex and food." She laughed and made another attempt to sit up, untangling a leg from between his. "What? After you retired, you had to fill the void?"

He nodded happily and got to his feet, holding his hand out for her. "Want to get a little cleaned up and I'll get some food?" He asked and she nodded slowly, sitting down on the bed for a moment. Munch padded off to the bathroom and got cleaned up, pulled on some clothes and kissed her softly. "I'll be right back."

"Just be safe and stay out of trouble!" She requested, smiling when he waved. Three minutes later, Frank could feel her body starting to relax and took a chance to head to the bathroom for a quick shower. Once dried off and reaching for her robe, she noticed John had already returned with the wonderful smell of hot food waiting for her. "What did you get?"

"I got some fresh and hot food from the local pasta store you really love, a bottle chardonnay and something sweet for desert." He showed, popping the cork off of the bottle with ease and poured some into two flute glasses they brought along. "I brought enough pasta with meat sauce to probably feed you, me, Ben and mom for a week."

Maria shook her head and peered into the clear plastic container that held their dinner. "Wow, John. This is just amazing and looks really good."

"I hope so. this wasn't the cheapest meal, you know." He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close. Without words, he rested his chin on shoulder and their cheeks touched. John closed his eyes at the contact and sighed contently. "I love you and I can't imagine my life going on without you or Ben."

"I know. It's not easy at all thinking the same thing for me and glad I still have you and a healthy baby." She closed her eyes and placed her hands over his hands. "I do have one question."

"Hm?"

"Did you wash off this table before placing the food on here?"

The silence behind her told her other-wise, but he soon answered her silently. "Since the food isn't technically touching the table, I can give it a good scrub down now."

"That would be good." Maria smirked and patted his face lovingly. "I trained you well."

* * *

Leah Munch awoke to the sound of Ben screaming as thunder rolled overhead. The infant still wasn't comfortable or felt safe with storms and it was something John had warned her about before they left. Walking out of the guest room and opening the door to the baby's room, she attempted to flip on the lights, but the power was out. "Well, shit," She muttered and wrapped her robe tighter around her.

Ben was sitting up in the crib with his hands on the bars, big tears rolling down his cheeks and crying as if the world was falling around him. He raised his arms as Leah lifted him up and held him tightly as he pressed his face against her chest, screaming out as another thunder roared out. He balled up his fists and held them close to his face, as if he wanted to disappear. She patted his back and shushed him calmly, knowing this was going to be tricky. Rocking him and gently bouncing him in her arms as she headed down to the living room, the older Munch had a lot of patience and time to calm the young child down.

She picked up his pacifier and popped it in. Ben promptly spat it out between crying hiccups and she sighed. "I guess not, huh?" She asked gently, patting his back and rocking from side to side. This was going to be her real test. Placing him in his playpen for a few minutes, she lit a candle and searched for the flashlight in one of the kitchen drawers. Hopes of warming a bottle of milk for the baby were down to zero, but she had other tricks up her sleeve. Placing the candle on the couch side table, she reached into the playpen and opened her robe to cuddle him against her. It was something she had done when her boys were upset and scared over storms or things that scared them. Wrapping the warm fabric around him and snuggling him close, she reached for the pacifier again and popped it in when he turned his head towards her chest. "Now now. I'm not your mother and not capable of nursing," She warmly said with a smile, brushing his thin dark hair gently as he gradually calmed down.

Twenty minutes into his calming session, a loud boom shook over the house and he jumped in her arms. For a moment, Leah thought he wasn't going to cry, but the tears welling up in his eyes told her otherwise. The pacifier dropped out of his mouth as he cried out loudly in her arms. Leah reached for her cellphone and scanned through the numbers for Maria's cell. She wouldn't have been doing this if it wasn't important, but Ben being calm was important.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Pulling the comforter out from over his head and untangling his arms, John reached for Maria's tossed jeans for the ringing cellphone. "Who's that?" He heard her voice come from right in front of him, under the covers.

"It's my mother," He replied and flipped the phone open. "Hey, what's the matter?" He listened for a few minutes and finally nodded. "Okay, here's Maria then. She knows what to do." He lifted the comforter and handed the phone to Maria, who was slightly tangled around him. Their last sexual adventure left them beyond exhausted and tangled among each other. "Ben's crying over a thunderstorm and she needs some help."

Frank took the phone from him and held it close. "Hey, is Bennie-boy upset over the storm?"

_"Yeah. I tried a few things I did with the boys when they were this age, but he's not taking it and since the power is out...,_" She left it hanging in the air for a moment. _"Well, you get the picture then."_

Maria closed her eyes for a moment and breathed out a sigh once she heard Ben crying in the background. It broke her heart. "Try this, Leah - take him to your bed and both of you hide under the blankets like it's a tent or cave. Sing him some happy songs and cuddle him close. It's worked in the past with us there, so it's worth a shot with you. If it doesn't work, you have a long night of comforting him."

_"We'll try that and I'll let you know if it works." _

With a click, the call ended and Maria exhaled a long breath. "She's got a fight on her hands now."

"What has she tried?" John asked, taking the phone from her hands and placing in on the side table.

"She's tried everything she did with you and Bernie when you two were fussy and upset. Ben's not taking it, but I told her to try what we did a while back when that other storm rolled in. Remember?" John nodded. "So, we'll see how it works. Not being able to see the lightening much and hearing her sing happy songs should help distract him enough for the storm to roll by." She draped her arm over his side and nuzzled close. "It's certainly hard not having Ben around, but good to know he's with your mom."

He rested his chin on her forehead and held her tightly. "He'll be perfectly safe with her. I think he's just testing her, actually."

Maria chuckled softly. "Like you did?"

"Yep."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Walking into the guest bedroom and lifting the covers, Leah sat down with the baby in her arms and moved the comforter so it was hanging over the headboard. Ben was still holding onto her robe and crying each time he heard thunder and saw the bright flash of lightening, his cheeks and eyes red from crying. The older Munch sat cross-legged under the comforter and sat him down. "Okay, Ben. How about we sing some happy songs until the storm passes, huh?" She asked with a cheerful tone in her voice. The baby only sniffled and whimpered a little while flexing and unflexing his fingers. "Good thing I brought in mamma's favorite stuffed animal for you to hold on to." She pulled up a dog stuffed animal she had taken from the main bedroom and placed it in front of him for his fingers to hold onto.

For the next hour, Leah Munch sang a few soothing and happy songs to the baby, grinning when he interacted as best he could into the songs. Once Ben was fast asleep against her with the stuffed animal clamped tightly in his fingers, she knew she did a job well done. Peering over the comforter and noticing the storm had finally moved on, she inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before scooping up the baby and placing him back into bed.

To be continued...


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank, Ben Munch and Leah Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content as usual.**

Stretching in her sleep and slowly opening her eyes, Maria Frank sat up in the Bed and Breakfast bed. It took her a few minutes to notice John wasn't laying by her side, but was sitting up on top of the covers - clad in nothing. "I was wondering when you were going to wake up," He whispered with a smile on his features.

"I was having too good of a dream to wake up." She explained as he leaned over to kiss her. When he moved closer to nuzzle her neck lovingly, Frank placed her hand on the back of his neck and sighed. "I'm going to guess you haven't taken a shower yet?"

He hummed for a moment and reached up the caress her cheek. "No, not yet. I was hoping you would join me." Maria chuckled and placed her hand over his. "I have a plan for later after our shower and breakfast."

"Does it involve us naked?" She asked, knowing what the answer was going to be anyway.

"Of course. Why else would we take a few days away from the baby and stay here?" He laughed softly and kissed her neck. "Come on, let's go take a shower." He stood up and motioned with his head in the direction of the bathroom. Maria grinned and got up as they walked hand in hand into the spacey room.

Once the water was hot enough, they both stepped in and John wrapped his arms around Maria lovingly, is normal showering together routine. Returning him hug, she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes. "I love you, John."

"I love you, too." He whispered, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "I'm so glad you're marrying me."

"I'm glad you finally said something about it." She placed her hand on his stomach and felt his muscles under her fingers. "I know we talked about it, but I'm more then excited you finally made it official."

John smiled down at her and tucked a wet dark strand of hair behind her ear, dipping his head down to passionately kiss her.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"And open up!" Leah Munch happily smiled as she spooned in a small amount of baby cereal rice into the baby's mouth, cheering for him. "Good boy, Ben. Good boy."

Ben clapped his hands together and squealed happily, food dribbling down his pudgy chin. "Baba!"

The older Munch leaned back in the seat and sighed with a smile. "Would be wonderful if you could say 'Mama' when Maria and John come home. You're mama would be very happy with that surprise coming home." She cooed, ticking the baby's belly as he wiggled with excitement. Squealing happily and spitting up some of his breakfast, Leah noticed it was going to be bathroom time for a certain bouncy baby.

She lifted him up from his highchair and walked her fingers up his from his belly to his nose, earning a giggle. "How about a bath?" She asked gently as she carried him up to the bathroom and gathered up what she needed from the closet. Effortless undressing the baby as he sucked on his toy keys, she filled his baby tub with the right temperature and placed him in gently. Ben looked down at the water around his legs and waist and muttered random babble to himself, batting at the water with his hands.

Laughing at his curiosity and keeping her hand on his back, Leah slowly and gently washed the now five month old baby boy in his baby tub Elliot Stable loaned them. Looking over the type of baby shampoo they bought for Ben, she smiled with approval just from reading the ingredients and the brand. She certainly raised her son well. It didn't matter how many times she thought it over and knew the answer, she couldn't stop admire Ben's health and happiness.

Gently washing his belly with a washcloth, she looked down and noticed how well the doctors and Ben's parents did with his cord and circumcision care. His belly button was perfectly round, clean and free of anything while she could barely see the scar from his small surgery when he was day old. His face was free of baby acne, pink and had healthy skin with his eyes clear and bright like a well taken cared for infant. His hair was dark and amazingly soft with Leah suspecting his hair was going to change to black once he got older. His finger and toe nails were evenly trimmed and clean of any small cuts or dirt and his small baby fingers were learning quickly to grasp small things.

He was a remarkable child and Leah Munch couldn't have been more proud. Ben wasn't quite crawling yet, but he was due to start that up soon since he managed to master rolling over rather well. During play time on the floor yesterday, she watched him roll onto his belly and attempt to move onto his hands and knees. It wasn't perfect, but it was an impressive attempt on his part.

Pausing for a moment to watch the laughing baby bat at the water around him, she whispered out loud to herself, "You have no idea what great parents you have, Ben. Someday you'll learn."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Observing Maria with a careful eye as they ate their breakfast in silence, John could feel himself starting to stir at just the thought of what he had planned for her. In the far past, it had taken him a while to coax her into enjoying it, knowing it was going to be a foreign sensation to her. The second he heard her gasp and toss her head back, he knew he had her. It was something they hadn't really had a chance to do due to caring for Ben and waiting for her body to heal. He certainly missed doing it with her and hoped she would be open to do it now.

"Hey, Mar?"

She raised her head and gave Munch her full attention. "Yes, dear?"

"Want me to show you the fun I have planned for you?" Maria tilted her head slightly, as if she was thinking about it. "Oh, c'mon. It will relax you, I promise." He placed his hand on top of hers and winked, earning a shy smile from her. "You are cute when you're shy," He commented, leaning over a little to allow her to feel his warm breath against her neck.

Inhaling a slow breath and closing her eyes, Maria turned her head slightly to look into his dark eyes. "Okay."

Slowly grinning, John took a hold of her hand and lead her in the direction of the big comfy chair in the corner. He motioned for her to sit down and instructed her to lean back, scooting her waist forward with his hands. "Do you want to take your robe off or do you find it more thrilling having it partially on?"He asked with a low voice, feeling her legs beginning to tremble with excitement.

Thinking for a moment, Frank pulled at his robe and said softly, "How about you taking your's off and me having mine partially open?"

"Works for me," Munch agreed and removed his before reaching up and partially undoing hers, feeling her smooth skin under his hands. "Ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready." She smiled down at him and combed her fingers through his hair. "Just be careful when you hit a ticklish spot," She warned, reminding him she kicked out when being tickled.

John chuckled and pressed his lips to the inside of her thigh. "I won't forget, baby." With a wink, he lowered his head down and felt Maria's muscles twitch with he flicked his tongue against his target. It wasn't long until he had her groaning from the lightest touches and panting for more when he paused. With a gentle tap to her leg, John watched her move away to give him more access and couldn't help himself slipping a finger in and she gasped loudly. Caressing his target with his thumb, Munch lightly brushed his lips along her hip and below her navel, his other hand gently brushing her stomach and chest.

It didn't take long until Maria began to pant heavily and grasped his hand on her stomach. "Oh, John." Squirming a little and looking down at John with lust and heavy eyes, she couldn't keep fighting her resolve and closed her eyes, climaxing under his touches.

Feeling her inner muscles clamp and spazz around his own finger, John couldn't stop himself from being turned on from what he was feeling and seeing. As she began panting to catch her breath, he gently patted her stomach. "Shhh... Still with me, love?"

"I...think so," She answered, reaching a hand down to comb her fingers through his hair again. "That was amazing, John."

"I'm glad. It's what I was going for. You really don't need to be shy around me, Mar. I've seen and touched every inch of your body so many times, I have memorized all your 'on' buttons." He explained, moving up to kiss her breasts and enclosing one with his mouth. When she inhaled a sharp breath, he pulled away and touched her face. "Did I hurt you?"

Maria shook her head. "No, just a little tender. I haven't nursed since late afternoon yesterday, so I'm pretty tender and swollen at the moment."

"Did you bring a pump with you?"

"I don't know if I did." She watched as he walked over and opened her bag, feeling around for any sign of her pump. "Is it in there?"

Munch stood up and shook his head. "No. I can take care of it, if you want me to."

Maria smiled and held her arms out for him to take and help her up. "We could lay down on the bed and you can to your heart's content. In a weird way, it's nice." Removing her robe and laying down on top of the covers, she moved onto her side and held her arms out for John to crawl into. "Just be sure to enclose most of my breast with your mouth or it'll cause me more discomfort, okay?"

"I will." He placed small kisses down her chest until he reached one breast and gently closed his mouth over it, settling down in her arms. To some, it would have seemed weird, but for these two, it didn't matter. Frank closed her eyes for a moment as she rested her cheek against John's head, growing used to the sensation of his mouth around her breast instead of Ben's tiny mouth.

Humming softly against her, Munch cuddled closer as her fingers caressed his bare back and he closed his eyes in content. Knowing Maria accepted him to do this made him beyond comfortable in her arms as she held him close - just like she did with Ben when he nursed.

Even after having their breakfast of muffins, bananas and tea, John could already feel his stomach gurgling for food, but he didn't want to stop. Draping his arm over Maria's waist and exhaling a slow breath, he smiled against her when she tightened her hold around him and nuzzled his head with her nose. "Are we enjoying ourselves?" She asked after a long while of laying together.

"Hm?" John looked up without removing his mouth. Repeating herself with a smile, he nodded once and settled back down in her arms.

"You're just a big baby sometimes, John. I bet you're going to be the only one to throw a fit when I dry up." Seeing he had closed his eyes again, Maria smiled and nestled her nose in his hair, closing her eyes as well. "Just remember I have a little something planned for you, too."

Fifteen minutes later, John noticed the one he had been suckling had emptied. Moving back just a little, he could tell the difference between the two and smiled. "Hey, Mar," He whispered, gently touching her face. When she opened her eyes, he motioned his head down and said, "It seems I've finished this one. Would you like me to take care of the other one?"

"If you want to. I'm actually enjoying this," She admitted with a smile and John grinned, proud she was enjoying herself just as much as he was. Scooting back down and enclosing his mouth around her second breast, he settled down against her with a soft sigh. The more she rubbed his back gently, the more he relaxed against her until he was between awake and asleep.

Noticing he was starting to softly snore against her, Maria placed her hand on the back of his neck and worked on the muscles in his neck to relax him deeper into slumber. It wasn't long until John was completely relaxed and deeply breathing. Reaching a hand down, she gently placed her hand under his chin and moved his head so he was away from her breasts and in a more comfortable position. "There we go," She whispered, kissing his forehead gently.

Laying contently for an hour as he slept, Frank gently rubbed his back until he began to stir in her arms. Stretching while still laying down, he slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour or so. You're totally like Ben on so many levels."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He falls asleep while nursing and you practically fell asleep while relieving me of discomfort." They chuckled together and John reached up to kiss her gently. "Stay right here and I'll be right back." Maria said with a grin and her hand on his lower abdomen.

Watching her get up and grab for her bag, Munch tilted his head and sat up. "What are you looking for?"

"You'll see!" She answered happily and found what she was looking for, stashing them behind her back as she turned around to face him. "Ready?"

Intrigued, he sat up straighter and leaned over as if he was trying to look around her. "C'mon Mar. Let me see!" Laughing softly, Maria showed what was in her hands - two of his silk ties and a very familiar bottle of motion lotion. "Yes!" John gleefully laid down on his back with his arms above his head, chuckling to himself.

"I knew you'd like this," Maria grinned, tying his hands to the headboard before straddling his waist. "Now, are you going to be a good boy for my fun?"

"Oh God yes." He exhaled a heavy breath and closed his eyes when she leaned down and kissed his chest, slowly working her way down to below his navel. Softly moaning when she licked the base of his slowly rising erection, he pulled at the restraints and pleaded, "Please, Maria. Please stop teasing me like this."

Watching him become stiffer in front of her eyes, Maria kissed the head and whispered, "You have to be patient, John." She placed her hand along his stiff erection and and gently caressed it with her fingers. "It's nice to see you rise for the occasion, of course."

Feeling himself starting to become overly excited when she picked up the bottle of lotion, he inhaled a slow breath to steady his nerve, only to gasp when he felt her smoothing it on him. "Oh, my God," He moaned when he felt the lotion warming up his skin and tossed his head back when Maria's hand began to stroke him. Keeping her hand stroking him and using her other hand to cup him lower, Frank leaned down and payed close attention to his chest, feeling his breathing becoming heavier with each stroke and nip.

It wasn't long until Maria had John squirming and moaning under her touches to the point he was pleading for her either blow him, mount him or allow him to climax. Slowing her strokes, she leaned over him and whispered, "What's your pleasure, John? What do you want?"

"Just mount me, Maria. Please, let me feel you on me." Wish granted, she eased a condom onto him and slowly lowered herself down, earning a shuddered sigh from the man from under her. "Yes. Thank you, baby."

"You're welcome." She leaned down and deeply kissed him as she began to rock against him, feeling him buck up every few minutes. Not being able to control herself much longer, Maria groaned and lightly bit down on John's neck, working to leave her mark just like how he had done to her many times. Gasping loudly and arching his back, John's orgasm rocked through his body as Maria followed a second later. "Holy fuck, John...," She panted heavily, resting her forehead against his sweaty shoulder, hearing him panting for breath. Maria reached a hand up and untied his hands, allowing him to wrap his arms around her tightly.

Trying to sit up, Munch held her close and waited for their pants to slow before placing his hand on his neck, making sure she didn't break skin. "You haven't bitten me that hard before, Mar," He remarked as he cracked a smile. glancing at his hand and seeing no blood. "I do have to say ow, though."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to bite you that hard, baby." She sadly smiled at him, placing her hand over the mark and caressing it with her thumb. "That should clear up in a day or even sooner, if I don't do that again in the same spot."

Sighing and reaching a hand out to touch her bare skin, John gazed into her eyes and asked, "You're not going to be mad at me, right?"

"What do you mean?" She tilted her head slightly, her small smile still on her lips.

"This weekend has been beyond amazing, Mar, and I'm beyond thrilled you wanted to do this so we could spend some time together without the baby, but," He paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm just exhausted now and I'm sure you are, too."

Thinking of what he was trying to explain, Frank pulled him in for a hug and held him close, feeling his chest touching her's. "You want to stop for the night?" He nodded against her shoulder and exhaled a slow breath. "That's perfectly fine. If you want to stop for the night or stop for the rest of our stay, that's perfectly fine for me. Maybe going out for a romantic dinner would be a nice way to end this weekend."

Grinning from ear to ear, Munch helped her off of him and stood up to head in the direction of the bathroom to get cleaned up. "Want to join me in the shower once I'm done cleaning up?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Sure. I'd love to." Maria grinned at him, reaching for her cell phone to call home. "Hey, it's me. How's Ben doing?"

Leah chuckled on the other side of the line, hoisting Ben to her other hip. _"He's doing great. He had breakfast and a bath and we just got back in from outside and enjoying the sunshine and grass."_

"The weather being great for autumn?"

_"Sure is. It's a warm day today and he really enjoyed it. How are you two doing?"_

"We're doing good and we've exhausted ourselves silly. We've thought about going out for a romantic dinner tonight before we come home tomorrow afternoon."

Ben's cooing could be hear over the other end and Leah laughed._ "Certainly feels like the weekend is flying fast, isn't it?"_

"With the fun we're having, of course it is." She smiled and then asked, "Could you put Ben on the phone? I know he's not saying very much, but just hearing him talk in his own way will sound refreshing."

_"Sure. Hold on a second."_ Frank could hear her placing the phone down and the sound of her future Mother-in-Law placing the baby into the high chair. _"Here we go. I'm holding the phone to his ear now."_

Ben's cooing came clear into the line and Maria laughed. "How my big boy doing? Are we being good?" Ben cackled and the sound of him banging his hands on the high chair tray told her he was. "Try not to say 'Mama' before I come home, okay? Mama wants to hear you say it when I'm there, sport." She smiled in the phone and could feel her heart starting to ache from not seeing him for two days now. Three days was the longest either her or John were away from him. When she had her hysterectomy, she was going to be away for two to three days at the most from her son.

Being away from him felt hard sometimes.

**To be continued...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank, Ben Munch and Leah Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Maria gleefully swept Ben into her arms to second they walked through the door, making it home safe and sound at the end of their long weekend. The baby squealed happy and babbled with a grin, his hands on his mother's face. "How's my big boy doing?" She cooed, ignoring the slight cringing from John. There were days he couldn't stand the cooing, but Maria had certainly caught him cooing and baby chattering with Ben when he didn't think she was watching or listening. Ben giggled and talked in his own way and she nodded with each 'word'. "Well, sounds like you've had a busy weekend then."

Leah smiled and placed her hand on Frank's shoulder, grabbing her attention. "How was your weekend?"

"It was really good. We had dinner last night at Franco's and enjoyed a rather well expensive dinner together, sharing a bottle of Chardonnay. Went back to our room and gave John a well needed and deserved massage since he's been pushing himself hard with my retirement, moving and caring for Ben when I wasn't able to help." She glanced over at him and they smiled at each other before glancing down at Ben, who was enjoying checking out the V-neck opening of her shirt. "It's good to be home, though. We've missed our boy for sure."

The older Munch helped her son with their bags and pulled him into a hug. "Good to have you home. Course, this might mean I need to go home as well. Bernie's needing a little help since he's busy with several passings this weekend and needs my help with finances. Not only that, he wants to hear everything about that little sport," She explained with warmth in her tone, watching Maria walk her fingers up Ben's chest to his nose, earning a giggle from the baby. "He did miss you guys, though. No matter what anyone says, he did miss you two."

"When are you going home?" John asked. "We can give you ride to the station since it's the least we can do with everything you've done. I know you won't take money mom-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Seeing Ben and caring for him while you two were away is all I need. He's certainly a beautiful, healthy and happy baby and I'm proud of you both." John's face went red with pride, knowing his mother was proud of him and Maria caring and loving a child they didn't plan on having. "I'm hoping to go home tomorrow and let you guys start on having a life together without little ol' me in the way."

"Hey! You're not little and not old either, mom." He smirked, nudging her with his elbow. "Does sound like a good idea, though. Tell me what time and I'll give you a ride to the station, okay?"

Leah nodded and motioned to the kitchen. "I just finished making lunch, if you two want to join. I think I'm almost out of bottles for Ben, but I think he's wanting the real thing right now."

Maria nodded as Ben patted her chest with his hand once again, talking in his own way. "I can certainly eat and nurse at the same time." Walking into the kitchen and sitting down at the dining table, she lifted her shirt and bra, allowing him to latch on. She sighed with a smile and patted his bottom. "Guess you missed me, huh?"

"Guess he did after all," Leah commented, placing a plate of grilled chicken and mashed potatoes in front of Maria. "He did well with the bottles and stayed awake, but it seems he's drifting off while nursing." She observed, noticing his eyes had closed. "Has he always done that?"

"Sometimes. When he feels really secure, content and comfortable, he drifts off or just closes his eyes to nurse." She forked up some potatoes and ate slowly, glancing down to lift the one side of her shirt some more so it didn't cover Ben's nose. "Thankfully, it doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable anymore. There are days when I feel like one of those mother monkeys eating away with a baby clinging to her fur to feed. Weaning this little guy might be a little hard, the more I think about it."

Leah sat down with a plate, noticing John slipping down in a seat beside her with three glasses of water in hand. "How long do you want to nurse him?"

"I'm not sure at this moment." She lifted her head and looked at her future mother-in-law. "I've heard of some women who nurse their children up to three years until the children weaned themselves off, but I nursed Scott until he was...a year and a half, I believe? Once he hit a year old, he only really nursed when he wanted to since he was moving right along with using the bottle and eating solids more. If he comforting and was hungry, I would nurse him. I'm certainly not ashamed to say I nursed him that far, but we loved the connection the two of us had. I'm sure Ben's going to love the connection when he's a little older, but only if he wants to continue nursing. I'm not going to force him."

Both nodded and John added, "Just as long as you and him feel comfortable with it, I'm not going to complain. It's nice to see you two with this bond and I'm sure he and I are going to form our own bond with our own special ways."

"You and Ben don't have a special bond yet?" Leah asked with surprise in her tone.

Munch shook his head slowly. "Not yet. What I want as our special bond is him and I playing basketball. Just going to have to get a ball that he can play with at his age now and work up from there. I just like to watch, hold and play with him until he's able to hold a ball." He observed Maria pressing down on her breast and frowned slightly. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. He's just drifting in and out at the moment and seems to be mostly sucking in air then milk." She shifted her hold and pulled her clothes back down. "Guess we're done for now. What to burp him so I can eat?" He held his hands out and they passed the baby over the table, reaching for a towel to place on his shoulder in case of spit up. "At this point, we're practically pros with his needs. Can't wait until he starts teething, though."

"Thrilling!" The older Munch said with a chuckle and finished off her lunch. "Did you decide about getting a hysterectomy?" When Maria nodded, she continued. "Any idea when?"

"Maybe next month. I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor and make sure everything is fine so I can have the surgery. I'll be sure to pump enough bottles so John wouldn't have to beg for me to roll over or something so Ben can eat." She smiled in his direction and John chuckled, patting sleeping Ben's back. "I just want it done before we do get married so we don't have anything in the way, if you catch my drift."

Leah winked and forked up more food. "I understand. I certainly didn't when I got married-"

"Mom!" John squeaked, not wanting to hear about his mother's younger years. "Not in front of the b-a-b-y."

"And definitely not in front of the J-o-h-n, too." Maria added, earning a look from him that made her laugh.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Later that night, Maria and John sat on their bed with Ben laying on his stomach and looking around by their legs. His exploring eyes looked around and scanned a room he could have guess wasn't his room. His head turned when he heard someone shaking his favorite toy keys and attempted to get up on his knees to get them. He made a effort and said, "Gah!" as his fingers missed his toy. He moved forward and tried again, scrunching up his face to show his determination.

John was mostly using the toy to distract Ben from paying attention to his parents - like the baby would understand what he was saying in the first place. "You know, I really, really can't wait until you've had the surgery," He whispered in Maria's ear. "Just imagine the fun we could have and no need for protection to get in the way, either." His other hand gently brushed her arm, making her shiver slightly.

"John," She warned him with a sigh. "Not with the baby here, not with your mother down the hall and I thought you said you had exhausted yourself over the weekend?" Feeling Ben's hands on her leg, she reached down and picked him up to sit on her lap. "I'm excited, too, but let's try to get freaky with the baby in here. Once he gets tired, then we can really talk about it, okay?"

Seeing how it was going to be, Munch stood up and picked up the infant. "I'll be back in about twenty minutes or so, then." Maria watched him leave and reached over to turn on the baby radio monitor, ready to hear everything going on in the baby's room. Within a few minutes, she heard him humming softly to their son and smiled. She knew what he was doing - John was changing the baby into his pajamas and keeping him calm by humming. It wasn't long until she heard the crib mobile being turned on and Ben mumbling tiredly. _"Shhh now. It's time for little boys to go to bed." _Maria heard him say soothingly, recognizing he had just placed him in his crib and he was going to stay in there until he fell asleep.

For the next few moments, she could only hear the sound of Ben drifting off, the mobile playing a lullaby very familiar to her and John gently and quietly talking to him. Maria had a mental image of him slowly stroking the baby's chest and stomach to help him fall asleep faster. It wasn't long until he returned to the bedroom and closed the door. "He's asleep?"

"Like a baby," he smiled, crawling back onto the bed to lay beside her. "Want me to continue about what will be?" She nodded her head gleefully and laid down lower on the bed, feeling a hand lightly touching her stomach. "Oh, let's see - no need to worry about condoms or a fear of being 'late', no need to leave to get cleaned up and then return again, and the sensations we'll get a chance to feel would be amazing."

Maria grinned and reached up to touch his neck, feeling his pulse pounding wildly from his own excitement. From the light of the lamp, she could see his eyes had dilated and glanced down for a moment. "You know, it sounds like it will be an amazing experience for us. I know we've only had sex once without protection, but I can't remember it and it resulted in Scott."

"I know that and I can vaguely remember that night and oooh," He closed his eyes for a minute, relishing in the memory. "It certainly felt wonderful not having anything between us."

Frank shook her head and nuzzled his neck. "I have no idea how you can remember any of that, frankly," She whispered, feeling him pressing harder against her. "John. My dear, sweet and handsome John," She placed her hands on his neck and gave him a small smile. "I have nothing except exhaustion and really sore legs and hips right now. I have know idea how you are capable for constantly seeking a release day after day."

"It's just how I work, Mar. You should know that by now." John sighed, resting his chin on her chest. "I'm not really seeking you for sex, but I just love re-living the feel I had from plunging into you to what thrills we're going to have once you've had the surgery." He closed his eyes, feeling her fingers along his jaw. "Know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean and I can't wait either. No more fears of having a surprise sibling for Ben or putting my health at risk if I do get pregnant again." She watched his eyes open and stare at her with a hint of sadness. "Don't give me that look, baby. You know I can't have another child because the risks would be _terrible _for both me and the unborn fetus. We're lucky Ben was healthy and I had very little side affects from giving birth to him, besides my postpartum depression that shows up every now and then."

Munch reached out a hand and gently touched her neck. "I was wondering when you were going to say that. Any chance it'll show up again?"

Maria shrugged and caressed his back from where they laid. "I don't know. Maybe once Leah leaves and life starts to slow down a little. Just be sure to keep your eyes out for it, okay? I have a hard time noticing if I have it or not when it does it."

"Okay," He whispered, seeing she was having a hard time when it came to that topic. He quickly changed it around. "My mother drives me crazy with her baby-talking to Ben." She laughed softly and sighed. "What?"

"Oh, John. Baby-talking is important for him to understand words easier. I know it drives you crazy and I know it makes you cringe, but it's needed. I've heard you talk to him like he's a buddy or something."

He rolled his eyes and sat up a little. "I treat him like my son and I treat you like an equal, my lover and my partner. I tell Ben I love him all the time and I'm there when he needs me. I don't treat him like a buddy-"

"It's how you're talking to him. You can talk to him in baby-talk when I'm not around. He'll learn better if you do that more around him." Munch sighed heavily. Maria turned his head and made him look into her eyes. "C'mon. Promise you will?"

"Alright. I promise."

* * *

It had been a week since Leah left for home in Pikesville, Maryland and life was starting to slow down as Maria and John began to settle into life, with Ben at their sides. He sailed through his check up at the pediatrician's office like a trooper and took on the two shots they were giving him well until he was pricked with the second needle, causing him to cry out and reach for whoever he could see better.

He was also attempting to sit up on his own without assistance and has mastered it one evening during floor time. John was sitting behind him while Maria sat in from of him and they were gradually trying to teach him how to crawl until he rolled over and sat up on his own, clapping once the second he was steady on his behind. His parents were shocked for a moment and stared at each other, as if they didn't believe what they just saw. "Well, that's the _opposite _we wanted him to do." Maria acknowledged, staring down at the grinning and drooling five month old.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that." Munch placed his hand on the baby's back and turned him around so he was facing him. "What was that about, sport? This is sitting up, not crawling." Maria noted he was talking to him differently and was becoming more open about baby-talking with him. Ben smiled and giggled happily, his fingers wrapping around his pudgy feet. Within a second of doing that, he fell over onto his back, keeping his hold on his feet. "Next thing we'll know, he's going to shove his feet into his mouth and get up and walk, skipping crawling all together."

"If he starts that up, I'm going to Alaska and ice fishing for the rest of my life." She chuckled and stood up, heading into the kitchen to grab him a bottle. "Anyway, I set up an appointment with my doctor to get a check up and make sure I'm really healthy enough to get a hysterectomy."

Munch happily tickled Ben, making their son laugh. "When?"

"Next week. If all goes well and I'm in tip-top shape, we'll set up an appointment for the surgery. I want it placed during a time when Ben's not fully depending on me for his care and you can take care of him ninety percent of the time." She glanced at the sink and noticed dishes she would have placed into the dishwasher. Her mothering instinct since Ben was born to keep everything clean for his health and make it easier for her and John. One side of the sink was already starting to fill up and she couldn't find the urge to do it at that moment. "Hey, John?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind doing the dishes for me? I'm going to feed Ben and then lay down." She warmed up the bottle and walked back into the living room, seeing he was observing her with concern. "What's that look for?"

Munch didn't answer her for a moment, but shook his head. "Nothing." He stood up and handed her the baby, heading into the kitchen to load the washer. Much to his slight surprise, he noticed the kitchen wasn't the pristine and spotless way it normally was. It wasn't usual for Maria to leave a load in the sink and ignore it, judging from the state of a bowl. John had a gut feeling - her postpartum depression was coming back, but he had to make sure that was the problem and not something else. He effortlessly loaded the washer and cleaned the counters.

Laying back on the couch, Maria bottle-fed Ben with a blank look, watching his fingers move as if he was trying to grasp the bottle in his hands. Her mind had gone blank the moment she laid back to feed the baby and didn't notice John standing in the door way, watching her carefully. When he called her name and she didn't answer, he knew something was up. He moved carefully over to the couch and sat down, placing his hand on her leg. "What?"

"Are you feeling okay?" When she didn't answer him, he carefully lifted Ben from her arms and slowly took the bottle, hoping to grab her full attention. "You'll get him back, sweetie. Just talk to me. What's the matter?"

"I don't know," she said softly, sitting up to face him better. "I just keep feeling I'm not doing the best I am able to do to give him a better outcome at life then I did."

John looked down at Ben for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"My parents were not the greatest and you know that. I keep hoping I can give Ben much better care and nutrition then I got growing up. I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of veggies or chicken for the longest time, but I didn't have a good shot at enjoying them growing up. I want our son to have a better introduction to life then I ever did, you know?" Her eyes showed a hidden fear John rarely got to see and he sighed. "What I'm giving him now is a great start and I know that, but what if he doesn't like eating vegetables and...and," She paused in mid-sentence to stop her emotions from taking over, but it was too late.

Using one hand to hold Ben against him, Munch reached a hand out and pulled her close. "Shhh... It's going to be okay, Mar. You've done a great job so far and I have a feeling you have nothing to worry about. I know you're worried about this, but I am, too." He controlled himself as best he could, knowing she was dealing with emotional and mental pain and he needed to be strong for her. "What me to calm Huang and get something set up for you?"

Frank gradually pulled away, noticing Ben was sensing something was wrong. He was beginning to whimper and his forehead creased as he began to cry. "Could you? I really don't like feeling like this."

"I know you don't," He whispered, tucking a dark strand behind her ear. He placed the baby on her lap and slowly stood up. "I'm going to call him now and get something set up. Just stay put for me."

Maria nodded and looked down at Ben, who was becoming more and more fussy, breaking her heart. She knew he wasn't being difficult, but he was sensing his mother wasn't feel good and it bothered him. Frank sadly smiled down at him and rubbed his back calmly, hoping it would calm him. "I'm sorry I have upset you, Bennie. I didn't mean it... Mommy's just upset over something silly for some reason and it scares me, that's all." She faked the best smile she could and hoped he would accept it well enough to calm down.

The man in the other side of the room wasn't buying it. John knew she was still battling her demons as best she could, but she needed a professional more than anything to help her along. He knew George Huang was the person to seek.

**To be continued...**  
**I've also been pretty busy trying to find a decent job around here to work on any of my fics. No one really wants to employ someone who only has a high school degree and struggling with school - while working on getting well mentally and emotionally at the moment. One 'job' I had was only volunteer work and I'm still pissed about that since she made it sound like I was really going to work for her. That put another damper in trusting humanity again. Oy.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Maria Frank inhaled a slow breath as she sat outside. It was a week before her surgery and life was slowly getting back to normal. Frequent meetings with Huang were helping her a lot with her recovery from postpartum depression and could feel the difference with the medication he had prescribed her. Ben was continuing to drool as his body began to get ready for teething and it left her wondering if he was going to teeth during her recovery.

For now, she knew she shouldn't worry about that. John had pushed her out to get some air and quiet time while the baby napped in his playpen, giving them free time to relax. The cool breeze felt welcoming as Frank closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself. Munch was sitting on the other side of their lawn table with a newspaper, catching up with the world. "Hey, Mar?"

Maria turned her head to his voice, opening her eyes. "Yes?"

He glanced over the top of paper and nudged her foot with his. "You don't have to worry. The surgery's going to go well and you're going to recover fast." His lips pulled back in a small smile. "You shouldn't worry so much." He could sense her anxiety and attempted to calm her with his words. She cracked a smile, but her eyes said differently. He placed his paper down and reached for her hand. "Hey, everything's going to be just fine," He whispered, brushing his thumb along her back hand. "Talk to me?"

She turned in her seat, facing him. "It's just I'm all nervous about this and neither of us know if everything is going to go as smooth as they say it will. The last time I needed surgery was after my assault and that was _years _ago. I didn't even have a choice since it was my life anyway. I keep thinking something's going to happen and you'll be alone with Ben and...and I don't want that."

John shook his head ever so slightly and move to sit next to her to get her full attention - he didn't want her to think anything like that. "Maria, they do this kind of thing all the time. We both know there are risks involved, but neither of us have heard of a surgical procedure going wrong because they make sure nothing bad is going to happen. They are going to prep you up, put you out and it'll be over before you know it. Understand?"

Maria nodded slowly and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. "I got it."

"Ben will be so ecstatic when you come home afterward, he won't know what to do with himself!" He grinned when she looked up with a smile. "Maybe he'll actually start crawling just to show how happy he is."

"I hope so. He's been trying really hard to-" She was cut off from the sound of the baby waking up from the speaker monitor. "Looks like he's up." Standing up, Maria headed into the house and smiled at Ben, who was attempting to stand up in the playpen. "Hey, Bennie-boy! How's my little guy doing?" She scooped him up and tickled his belly, watching him squirm and laugh loudly. "I see we're skipping over crawling and heading straight into walking, yes?"

Ben squealed and looked around when he heard John coming in, giving him a toothless grin. Munch lightly clapped and smiled down at the boy. "Looks like it's time for outside play time." He announced, seeing Maria roll her eyes playfully. The older Ben was getting, the more John was trying to get him accustomed to being outside and playing with a small basketball toy he got. Frank handed him over to his father and watched them head outside, observing him reaching for Ben's play mat.

Deep down, she knew everything was going to be just fine for the few days she wasn't going to be home.

* * *

A week later:

"Maria Frank?" A nurse stood up outside of the waiting room with a clipboard in her hand.

Inhaling a slow breath and standing up, Maria felt a hand on her arm. John gave her a small smile and pulled her into a hug. "Everything's going to be okay and I'll be right here the whole time." He explained, kissing her gently. "I will even come up to see you for a few minutes afterward if you want."

"I'd like that, even if I won't be able to remember it," She replied back with a smile. Ben was home - down for a nap - with one of the Maureen Stabler watching him. "I'm not sure how long this is going to take, so don't stay in here the whole time, understand?"

"I know," Munch smiled down at her and motioned for her to get going. "Go on before they move to the next customer or drag you out of here." With a gentle shove with his hand, he watched her head towards the nurse almost reluctantly - as if she didn't want to for fear something was going to happen. _It will be okay, Mar. Don't give me that look like this is a punishment._

He slowly sank down into the chair and softly sighed. John knew it was going to be a while since the surgeons were going to be removing everything reproductive from her body and getting her settled in recovery was going to take some time as well, but he promised he wasn't going to leave and didn't regret it. John slowly leaned back in the chair and folded his fingers loosely on his lap, watching the CNN channel on the almost silent television.

A half hour into his wait, Munch lifted his head when he heard someone softly talking to a possible younger person. "Now, now. This is a hospital and we need to be quiet, okay? There are a lot of sick people in here who need the peace and quiet so they can get better." The patter of little feet got his attention as a five year old sprinted into the room and straight for the toy box in the far corner. The father appeared a second later and seemed almost stunned to see another person in the room. "Oh! I'm sorry. I hope we're not bothering you."

"No, it's okay. I have a long wait myself and don't mind some company." He nodded at the man and turned his head to watch the little girl play with a green and yellow dinosaur. "She's cute."

"Thanks. She practically used to coming down here now since we've been doing it for the past week." The younger man sat down across from John. "My wife was in accident and they're just getting around to working on her arm to put it back together and I'm hoping we can see her before she goes in." His light eyes noticed Munch was observing his daughter and smiled. "Let me guess... You're a father, too?"

John seemed taken aback and cleared his throat. "Yes, actually I am. I have a six month old at home being watched while I wait for his mother to get out of surgery herself. She's having a hysterectomy," He stated almost too quickly. "Our son was a 'surprise' and we don't want it to happen again, especially at our ages."

"Oh, I understand completely. Allie here was a surprise, too. We didn't even want kids, but mistakes happen and we don't regret it. Are you waiting for your wife?" He asked, not wanting to say something and cause some embarrassment.

"She's going to be when Ben's over a year old. This is one of her 'things to do before she does get married' decisions."

The younger man nodded and grinned. "Getting married when the child's over a year certainly does work. I've had friends who did that and everything worked out ninety-nine percent of the time. When did she know she was expecting?"

John chuckled and bit his bottom lip for a moment. "Well, we didn't know until her water broke at work and she went into labor. Weird, huh?"

"That's pretty wild! Chrissy didn't know until she was five months along and she couldn't bear the idea of aborting it, so here we are with our Allie. Was your son a healthy one?"

"Very healthy. All ten fingers and ten toes, big baby and ready to punch the nurses right from the start." The men laughed and Allie walked over to John, holding out the toy. "Hello."

She grinned and shook the dinosaur slightly. "Take, please!" Her father held back a laugh and nodded, telling John it was all right. He took the toy and she giggled. "Thank you!" She turned right around and went back to digging through the toy box.

"She likes to do that sometimes. We've been teaching her sharing and she seems to have it in her head about sharing everything with everyone." He reached down to pick her up and placed her on his lap. "She's a good girl though."

Munch looked over the toy and sadly smiled. "Ben's a good baby. Wish we had known she was expecting him so we could have done the normal tests and what-not, but that's all in the past and he's as healthy as can be and we couldn't be more happier with him." He sat up straighter and extended his hand. "I'm John, by the way."

"Ethan," The younger man replied back, returning the hand shake. "And you already know Allie." Both men smiled when she extended her hand and attempted to hand Munch an action figure. "She likes trucks, dinosaurs and action figures, by the way. She's never been raised with pink flowers and girly things, since she never liked them."

"I've often wondered what Ben will like when he's older. He seems to like anything he can see and get his hands on, but I wonder sometimes."

Ethan smiled softly and nodded. "I understand. Allie was the same way and seems to have finally decided what she likes at her age. If she starts liking anything else, my wife and I will accept it because it is who she is."

John nodded and kept it in mind.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

For the next hour and a half, the men continued to talk about anything; weather, news, politics and more politics. John had a feeling he had made a new political friend to talk with. Ethan wasn't a political know-it-all, but he knew enough to keep a conversation interesting and continuing.

"Mr. Munch?" The surgeon appeared at the door with a clipboard, calmly breaking into their conversation.

John's face lightened up. "Is she ready?" He nodded and Munch pulled out a pen and piece of paper. "Here, Ethan. This is my home phone number and we should get together sometime for a coffee or something. I think our female companions and children will like meeting each other." The younger man nodded and shook his hand with a grin, watching both surgeon and John head out. "How did she do?"

"Very well; the surgery went smoothly and Maria was a trooper. She's still sedated, but is slipping in and out of consciousness. Looks like she's trying to fight the anesthesia."

John chuckled and shook his head. "She does that. It's been a long time since I've seen her laying in a hospital bed, but she does fight it. She probably wants to go home now, but can't think clearly."

The surgeon smirked and motioned to a dark room. "She can try leaving as much as she wants. I'm not letting my patient go until she's ready in a few days." He opened the door and motioned to a free chair. "I can only give you a few minutes with her."

"Understandable. Thank you." He quietly walked into the recovery room and sat down gently. Unlike the last time he saw Maria laying in a hospital bed, he smiled and took a hold of her hand, feeling her warm and soft palm touching his. "Maria?" He called her name softly, leaning forward to use his other hand to touch her face. A warm smile broke through his face when she shifted and turned her head in the direction of his hand. "Hi, there."

Her eyes slowly opened and glanced at his blurry shadow before closing again. "John?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Inhaling a few breaths and grasping his hand, she muttered something incoherent. John leaned forward some more and asked her softly what she had said. "Remember...to pick up...the popcorn puppies," She muttered slowly as she drifted back into a deep sleep, her hand going loose in his.

Munch gave her a small smile and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "I won't forget, sweetie. I'll be back tomorrow."

**To be continued...**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

The next afternoon, and after finding someone to watch Ben while he was gone, John Munch headed back to the hospital and up to the surgical recovery floor. Along the way, he bumped into her surgeon. "Hi, how's Maria doing this morning?"

Dr. Ghroast smiled and motioned for Munch to follow him to Maria's room. "She's doing very well this morning. She ate breakfast, went back to sleep for a few hours and has attempted to get up and out twice already." John chuckled and shook his head slowly. "Let me guess; this is normal of her?"

"Very normal. When she wants to get home as soon as possible, she will do anything to get out and back into her own space. Granted, she probably wants to go home and see Ben, but if she keeps this up, I won't allow her out of bed for a few days once she's home." His dark eyes fell upon the door that was her room and smiled. "I just hope she'll relax once she sees me."

"Let's hope she will," the surgeon agreed and opened the door for him. John hadn't expected much except seeing her sitting up with a tired expression and staring at the door with a determined gleam in her eyes.

That's exactly what she was doing. "I want out."

"No 'hello, dear' or 'nice to see you this wonderful morning' today?" John smirked as he sat down in the chair near her bed. Maria only huffed softly and turned her head the other direction, staring at her lunch tray. "Did you eat lunch?" She turned her head to look at him and shook her head. She did look exhausted and sore in his eyes. "You need to eat your lunch to get your strength back so you can come home, sweetie."

Maria leaned back and closed her eyes. "I'm just too tired to care right now, John. I just want to go home." Hearing him getting up, she cracked her eyes open for a minute to see him moving her food tray closer and sat down on the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Getting you to eat something." He lifted the lid and saw it was chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. A plastic water mug filled with ice and water with a bendy straw was already resting beside her on the bed. He made a mental note to check and see how much water she had been drinking. "I'm surprised you haven't even touched your potatoes yet. You love mashed potatoes."

Frank shrugged and reached her IV hand out to take a fork. "I just haven't felt like it." She cracked a smile when he rolled his eyes. "You're probably thinking I didn't want to eat until you got here, right?"

Munch picked up the spoon and knife, cutting up the chicken with ease. "I probably am. I know you're already homesick and everything, but you have to keep up your strength so they can send you home as soon as possible." He spooned up some corn and mixed it in with the potatoes. "So, have you had a chance to look at your new scars?"

A small smile broke through her tired face. "Yeah, I have. You'll be glad to know that they're not as big or heartbreaking as my other scars." He nodded and took the fork from her hand, forking up some chicken to feed to her. "You wanna see them?" She asked a few minutes later once she finished chewing.

"Sure." He moved back a little to lower the blankets and slowly lifted her gown. "Nice to see they're not allowing you to use any panties," he noted, raising his eyebrows with a grin.

"I kind of can't, John." She noted, feeling his fingers on her lower abdomen. "There are three ways they went in - through my navel and two small incisions here," She pointed out one spot, "and here."

He gave a low whistle and leaned forward to see the barely visible incision in her navel. "When will you be able to come home then?"

"By tomorrow, I hope. I have been behaving, I swear," She added the second he glanced at her over his glasses. "I only attempted to get up twice and that was when I wasn't feeling exhausted." He sighed and lowered her gown back down, covering her back up with the blankets. "They have warned me I can go back to my regular activities in two weeks, though." He sighed once again and sat down heavily on the bed. It wasn't the thought of doing most of the work with Ben, but it was the idea of not having action bugged him. "Guess they didn't tell you they had to lightly sedate me before the surgery, then."

John turned his head with eyes slight wide. "What?"

Maria sighed and softly chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "I was...um, having a tough time calming down and they had to lightly sedate me so I would cool down." He shook his head and frowned. "I guess with them being so busy on this floor, it didn't cross their minds or thought I was going to tell you instead."

"But you're all right?"

"Yes, of course I am. If I wasn't all right before, during or after the surgery, they would have told you." She leaned forward as best she could and took his hand. "You know how hot-headed I can get, John. Being me, it's hard to even sit here and watch you leave to go home."

Munch thought for a moment before cracking a small smile. "Imagine if Ben starts acting like that."

"Exhausts me just thinking about it," she grinned and leaned back against the pillows. "Mind if you stay and help me finish my lunch so I can get some rest later?"

"Of course," He scooted closer to her and picked up the plate. "Kathy Stabler's watching Ben for today and tomorrow, so I can be here as long as you want me to. Want me to stay a little while longer while you're resting?"

She smiled and answered, "I'd like that."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Kathy looked up from her book when she heard the key in the door lock. "How's Maria doing?" She asked once John Munch walked in and closed the door.

"She's doing better and has stated she'll start behaving herself. Got her to eat her lunch and stayed with her a little longer after she went to sleep." He peered into the playpen where Ben was sleeping, his pacifier moving as he dreamed. "If she behaves for the rest of the day, she'll be home tomorrow."

"That's wonderful," She closed her book and stood up, stretching. "Ben was good today, but I think he's starting to teeth."

Lifting his head, John asked, "What signs are you getting?"

Kathy tapped her chin lightly. "He's been producing lots of extra saliva and it's starting to irritate the skin of his chin. I've been wiping it clean every time he drools and he's been coughing a little more because of the extra saliva."

"Great," John said, drawing out the word. "Are you sure it isn't a cold when he coughs?"

She shook her head with a smile. "Nope. I took his temperature and it's normal and he's showing no signs of a cold or flu. He's sleeping for now, but he might wake up suddenly from the pain. If you need help while Maria's recovering, I'm just a phone call away, got it?"

"I got it and thank you so much." He showed her the door and said good-bye to her before turning back to the slightly stirring infant. "Hey, little guy. Let's try to stay asleep for a little while longer, okay?" He softly whispered, his fingers gently stroking Ben's dark hair until he calmed down in his sleep. "Mommy will be home soon, Ben. Just a little longer."

Once he was certainly Ben was back into a deep sleep, John went ahead and booted up his computer. Maria was going to be out of commission for a while to recover, so he wanted to prepare himself for what was ahead with their son teething. An hour into his reading and jotting down notes of what to do when he was in pain and uncomfortable, John was jolted from deep concentration when Ben began crying from the playpen.

He instantly got up and walked in to lift the emotional infant up. "What's the matter, sport?" He lifted his bib and wiped his chin as he began to drool in-between gasping for breath and crying. Ben pressed his face into John's neck as he cried, pressing his hands against his tear-stained face. Gently shushing and rocking him, Munch closed his eyes and waited patiently for him to calm down. His gut told him it was his teething that woke him, but he was limited with what he had.

Like a light bulb turning on, he remembered Maria had placed some filled bottles in the freezer to be used later on, in case of an emergency or if something happened that needed Ben's mouth to be numbed - like teething. Walking into the kitchen and opening the freezer door, he reached in for a bottle, grabbed Ben's spoon and sat down at the table, Ben on his lap. "Okay, Ben. Let's try this." He scrapped some frozen breast milk from inside the bottle and gently prodded the baby's mouth until he finally opened it. Instead of emptying the spoon in his mouth, John kept it on his front gums and allowed him to suck of the ice.

Munch grinned when Ben sat back a little and looked at the spoon, an expression on his face that said, 'why isn't this coming off the spoon!' Ben frowned slightly and leaned forward again, wrapping his mouth around the spoon again, clumsily sucking on it. It took him five minutes to fully understand what was going on and, much to John's surprise, Ben looked up at him and grinned happily, giving John the view of a small lump of a tooth coming in. "Well, look at that. Guess you are teething, big guy."

_I can kiss sleep good-bye._

* * *

The next afternoon -

Keeping his arm around Maria's waist, he helped her slowly into the house. By orders of her surgeon, he was to keep her in bed for a few days with painkillers keeping her sedated to allow herself to heal. Knowing Maria, it was going to be a _blast _to keep her in bed. The second Munch opened the door and got her through the door, both were greeted by a happily squeal of excitement as Ben attempted to crawl quickly towards his parents. Kathy Stabler swooped him up before he flopped forward and popped his nose.

"Hey, Ben," Maria tiredly reached a hand out and took a hold of his outstretched hand. She couldn't even hold him until her two week healing process was done. "Looks like you've noticed I haven't been around, huh?"

The baby reached his other hand out and wanted to be held so badly by her, but Frank gave him a sad smile and shook her head. "I can't hold you yet, sweetie."

"How about we get you settled in bed and you can hold him then?" Kathy suggested, sensing Ben was starting to get upset just from not receiving that much wanted attention from his mother. Holding Ben against her hip and using her other to help John get Maria up the stairs, they went as slow as she wanted them to go, biting the inside of her bottom lip with each painful moment. Once they got her into the room, Kathy placed Ben on the floor to play with his favorite bird imprinted rattle while she helped Frank into something more comfortable to sleep in. She could sense Maria wasn't too keen on the idea. "It's all right, Mar. It's not like I haven't seen another woman naked, you know."

Maria placed her hands on John's shoulders for support as Kathy helped her into loose sleep shorts. "The only person I allow to see my naked is John and that's it." She grimaced when she lifted her leg to step into the shorts and gripped Munch's shoulders. "Fuck, this hurts."

John softly shushed her and placed his hand on the back of her neck. "Easy now. Just take some deep and slow breaths and you will be laying down before you know it."

"I hope so," She whispered in pain, opening her eyes slightly to look into his face.

"There we go!" Kathy stood up and gently tossed the pants into the hamper. "Granted you're not going to be completely naked in front of me, so no worries." She stepped aside and allowed John to lift her shirt up and reached for a sleep shirt before sitting her down carefully on the bed.

Once he undid and removed her bra, he slipped her shirt on and helped her lay down comfortably on the bed, tucking the blanket sheet and comforter around her. Ben's happy gurgling had them know Kathy had picked him up from the floor, handing him to his father. "Someone wants to see you, Maria," He happily announced, placing him next to Maria. The baby grinned and placed his hand on her face, babbling to her. Frank wrapped her arm around him and gave him a small hug. "Did he have his nap today?" He asked, turning his head towards Ms. Stabler.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I was going to lay him down until I heard your car coming up. I figured he would have been pleased to see both of you and then you would do it once he calmed down."

"'Kay. It looks like Ben is going to be napping in Maria's arms anyway, so we should leave and let him settle down before I give Mar her meds." He motioned for them to leave the room, allowing Maria and Ben to get the interaction they both wanted.

Frank grinned and chuckled when Ben playfully rolled onto his back and shook his rattle in the air, high above his head. "What do you have there, Ben? Is that your rattle?" He stuck his tongue out and giggled, shaking it harder before sticking it into his mouth. "Daddy told me you're teething. Is that true?"

"Dada!" Ben instantly said, removing the rattle from his mouth and glancing up at his mother.

She softly laughed and stroked his dark hair. "Yes, that's right. His name is 'Dada'." She reached a hand down and carefully moved him to lay down right next to her, noticing he was starting to drift off for his afternoon lap. He shook his rattle a few more times as he closed his eyes, allowing his hand to drop down at his side. "Sleep tight, little guy. " Maria continued to gently stroke his dark hair until John poked his head in, holding a glass of water and her pain killers. "Hi, handsome."

He walked over and sat down quietly, making sure to not wake the baby. "Looks like you put him to sleep, huh?"

"Yeah. He rolled on his back and sucked on his rattle and happily said 'dada' when I talked about you." She smiled up at him and closed her eyes when he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "At least he can distinguish daddy is you and no one else. Did Kathy leave?"

Nodding his head, Munch opened her child-proof medication bottle and poured out two pills. "Yes. She has to get Eli to day care since the kids are doing some after school thing before she goes to work. There's an infant in the NICU she's been watching over for a while now that needs extra care... Not that none of the NICU babies don't need that extra care."

"I couldn't be able to do that." Maria brought up, taking the pills from his hand and reaching for the glass of water. "You know we're lucky Ben didn't need to be in there."

"I know," He whispered, reaching over to make sure nothing was covering Ben's mouth and nose. "Mind if I join you two here? I'll be reading though, in case Ben wakes up while you're still sleeping."

She patted his side softly and smiled. "I don't mind taking in another bunk buddy for the day. She settled more comfortably in the bed and gave John a small smile as he laid down to her with Ben between them. Feeling her exhaustion beginning to take over, Frank concentrated on John's fingers as he gently touched her face to help ease her to getting some rest.

**To be continued...**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Maria Frank rolled over in her sleep and groaned, not remembering she had several incisions that were healing on her lower abdomen. Not only that, but Ben had been fast asleep next to her as well, but the tearful crying from downstairs told her he wasn't anymore. She rolled back onto her back and grunted in pain. "John!" She hoped he wasn't too frazzled while helping Ben calm down from whatever was causing him to cry out.

The crying infant's sounds grew louder as Munch came up the stairs and stood in the doorway. Ben was pressing his face against John's shoulder and his body shook with each gasping breath he took before crying back out. "What's the matter, baby?" He asked over Ben's crying.

"Not really about me, but wanting to make sure you're okay." She asked as he walked over and sat down on the bed. "How long has he been like this?"

He patted the young Munch's back and groaned heavily. "A few hours at most. I tried using frozen breast milk to numb his gums, baby Tylenol, and having him gnaw on a frozen peach slice. Nothing has worked."

Frank sat back and exhaled a slow breath. Ben looked miserable, cranky and his face was wet from his tears and extra saliva coming from his mouth. Even from where she was sitting, she could see a few bumps forming where his front teeth were coming in and felt her heart beginning to ache. "Have you tried just feeding him bottled milk or some puree veggies?"

"What makes you think that's going to work?" John asked loudly, startling the baby for a second before he began crying again when his father patted his back again.

"It's worth a shot!" She stated sternly, holding her hands out for him to place Ben in. "Just get some of the frozen baby food from the freezer, thaw it for a few seconds in the micro and bring it up here and see how he does. Bring up a bottle from the fridge, just in case."

John placed the towel he had been using to wipe the baby's face on Maria's chest and headed downstairs, doing just what she said. He quickly thawed the baby food just enough for it to still be frozen cold, but about to stir it still. He also grabbed for a bottle from the fridge and warmed it up before heading back upstairs. "All right...here we go," He stated, sitting back down and rubbing Benjamin's back as he sniffled and cried softly. "How's he doing?"

"He's calmed down and then starts back up again. I can't hold him, but I can feed him laying down." She watched John place the items down and gently placed him on his lap, using one hand to hand Maria the items. Spooning up a small amount, she made sure the bottom of the spoon was cold enough to help numb Ben's hurting gums and popped it in. The baby froze for a second and sniffled as he took in what was happening. "There we go."

"What's his face doing?" Munch didn't want to move him too much in case it upset the infant more than he already was.

Maria smiled and waited until Ben was finished sucking off what was on the spoon before pulling it out. "Looking pretty good. Once he's comfortable enough, we'll give him the bottle and lull him to sleep." She spooned up a little more and fed him when he opened his mouth willingly. "At the rate we're going, it'll be easy."

"I hope so." It wasn't long until the baby turned his head away from the spoon and reached a hand out for the bottle. "Well, how about that." He reached for the bottle and allowed him to latch on, laying him down in the crook of Frank's arm and held the bottle up. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged tiredly. "Still tired, but want to make sure Ben's okay more then anything. I did roll over earlier, but that wasn't the smartest idea. Mind getting me the heating pad?" He nodded and left once she took a hold of the bottle. Returning a few minutes, he lowered the comforter and sheet and gently positioned the pad on top of her sleep shirt. "Thanks, sweetie."

"Of course. Anything to keep you comfortable and help you heal." Munch reached his hand out and gently stroked Ben's dark hair with his long fingers. "Good boy, Benjamin," he whispered softly, not wanting to disturb the comfortable and partially sleeping child. "I'm going to put this back in the freezer." He picked up the baby food and spoon, leaving them to lay contently.

Trying hard to stay awake, Maria felt herself starting to drift and lightly shook her head to stay awake long enough for John to take care of Ben. Feeling the baby moving against her, she turned her head and saw he had pulled away from the bottle and had rolled onto his stomach. "What'd ya doin'?" She asked with a smile, watching him move onto his hands and knees. "Are you going to crawl at last?"

Ben cooed and flopped onto his stomach, giving a small burp along the way. He grinned happily and gave her a full view of the very tip of his white front teeth coming in, making her grin like she hadn't grinned before. "Look at those little teeth! I didn't see that earlier and now they're coming in pretty quick. Hey, John!"

Munch rushed up the steps and walked into the bedroom, his face slightly pale. "What's the matter?" Once he saw her still laying there with Ben beside her, he calmed a little and placed his hand on the baby's back. "What are we doing, huh?"

"Look at his top jaw and tell me what you see." He picked him up and held him up, peering into his mouth when the baby began babbling, giving him a good view. "See them?"

"I sure do! Nursing him is going to be bitch now. This is...if you keep nursing him from now on."

She shrugged and settled down into the comforter and pillows. "I don't know. He loves nursing more then bottle feeding, so weaning him is going to be fun. Once he's weaned, I'll nurse him every now and then just for our bonding sessions. It comforts him and does the same for me." She reached a hand up and gently shook Ben's fingers as he reached a hand out. "Mind if you join me while I get some more sleep?"

Smiling, John stood and held the baby against his hip. "Let me lay him down for a nap and I'll be right back, 'kay?" She nodded and he in the direction of Ben's room. Changing him into his pajamas and slowly walking around the room to help him ease to sleep, Munch looked out the window and watch a bird landing in a tree to feed its young, barely able to see the three small heads popping up to ask for food. Turning his head to see Ben was drifting in and out, he began to softly talk to him and hoped it would ease him to sleep better. "See out there? That's a Blue Jay feeding its babies. Birds feed their young differently then humans do." He patted Ben's back and noticed he was out like a light. "And birds help put their children to sleep differently the humans do, too."

He quietly walked over to the crib and gently laid Ben down, covering him up securely for warmth. Making sure the baby monitor was on and closing the door with a soft 'click', he walked back into the bedroom and changed into something more comfortable. Maria's eyes shifted in his direction and smiled. "How deep is he asleep?"

"Let's say an earthquake could happen and it wouldn't wake him," John smiled as he got under the covers. Watching her face carefully for any signs of pain, he moved closer to her and rested his arm across her chest, resting his head next to her's with their foreheads touching. "Thank you for the help."

"Of course." Her fingers gently stroking his face. "I'll do what I can until I can get back to my ol' ways. I'm not going to leave you to deal with Ben's issues by yourself." Crooking her finger and beckoning to move a little closer, she hooked her finger in his shirt and pulled him down for a long needed kiss. Munch took that chance to very slowly and gently run his fingers under her sleep shirt to touch her warm flesh, avoiding her small sutures. When they broke the kiss for a moment to catch a breath, Maria placed her hand on top of his and smiled. "I know you're resisting to kiss my stomach, but you can, if you want."

Glancing down where their hands were, his brown eyes glanced back up into her green ones and he asked, "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't, as long as you don't touch them. I know you love kissing my stomach and chest and I don't want to hold you back from doing that." John smiled and lowered his head to kiss her on the lips a few more times before slowly moving down until his lips made contact with her stomach. The feel of her fingers weaving through his hair, his eyes noticed he was near one of her scars and inched closer until he felt the slightly raised skin under his lips.

Inhaling a slow breath and feeling her body slightly tense like it normally did when John did that, Maria gripped the sheets under her hands and held them firm until she felt his fingers lacing between her fingers to release her grip. "Easy now, Mar. Take some deep breaths and just relax." He whispered softly as he rested his chin on her stomach, tilting his head slightly to press his lips to her scar again. "How's that feel?"

She gripped his fingers in return and gently touched his face with her other hand, feeling him relax against her hand. "Yes, it actually does." She felt him smile against her hand and pulled his hand up to kiss the back of his fingers. "I feel relaxed enough for you to continue." She giggled when he gently nipped her side and slightly squirmed under him.

Maybe laying in bed and recovering wasn't going to be so bad after all.

**To be continued...**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. ****Adult content because I just *love* to put it in.**

A week later:

Maria Frank sat up in bed after enjoying a small lunch with John and their bundle of teething baby fat, Ben. Since she was being her stubborn self, Munch had instructed her to go straight to bed without passing go or collecting two hundred bucks if she wasn't going to sit still and relax while he took care of the baby. She heavily sighed and reached for a book she was reading for the second time since last week. It was something to distract her from the impending boredom.

Carefully turning a page and loosing herself in a chapter, she barely noticed when John peered in with a bare naked Ben cradled in his arms. With a small smile, he had something to show her that would make her day a thousand times better. "Hey, Mar?" She lifted her head and showed him her full attention. "I have something to show you."

"Does it involve moving?"

He shook his head and walked into the room with a cooing baby. "Ben has something to show you, actually." He placed him stomach down on the bed carefully. "Now, just watch." He moved closer to her and called Ben's name.

The baby grinned and hoisted himself up onto his hands and knees. Using his mother's legs as a sturdy support, he steadied himself before taking a few wobbly moves towards John's open arms. Maria's hands covered her mouth with sheer joy as Ben crawled towards them and straight into John's arms. "When did he start doing that?" She asked happily, her eyes glazing over with tears.

John offered her the baby to hold and explained, "I was busy changing his diaper downstairs and he flipped himself over, hoisted himself up and started taking off. I had to grab a leg to stop him from heading toward the kitchen." He patted down some dark hair that was sticking up on Ben's head. "I knew you were being low after being bed-ridden for a while and knew you needed to see this."

"Just be sure to catch it on video camera so we can show it to your mother. Leah will burst at the seam seeing him crawling and teething all at once." She cradled Ben close and gently patted his bare backside as he gripped her shirt. She glanced down at him and asked with a smile, "Can you say Momma?" Instead of giving what his mother wanted, he flashed a big grin and showed off his barely visible two front teeth coming in. "Oh, nice! Look at those pearly white beauties coming in."

Glad to see Maria really smiling for the first time in a week, Munch sat down and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I knew you'd like this after being down for a while. I know it's hard not doing your usual things, Mar." She nodded slowly in return and gazed up at him with a small smile. Following the doctor's strict orders, she couldn't go back to her usual self for another week or so, which meant John had to deal as well. It had been a week since they've had an intimate moment together and he was feeling antsy. Caring for Ben was keeping him distracted, but being this close to her and seeing her smiling at him really brought on those strong emotions. "Mar?"

She tilted her head slightly and smiled. "What's the matter?" When he didn't answer, she shifted her hold of Ben and took a hold of his hand. "I get it now. You haven't checked out your secret stash for a while, have you?" She asked, referring to a stash of magazines he kept hidden and only looked at when he was really in need of a self-release.

"No," He muttered, smiling sheepishly at her as he traced the baby's shoulders with his fingers. "I don't want to bring those out with Ben around." Maria nodded slowly and gave him a small wink, earning a small blush. "I should finish getting him dressed and get him ready for a nap."

"Just don't take too long, John." A small smile creased over her features as she handed Ben back to his father, allowing her fingers to gently brush up against his.

Easily and quickly as he could move, Munch dressed and laid Ben down for his afternoon nap. He knew that smile and wink she gave him and he couldn't wait to be intimately close with her once more. If all she was able to do was hold him close and stroke him off with her hand, that was fine by him. Once the mobile was playing its soothing tune and the baby started nodding off, he quietly - but quickly - rushed to the main bedroom and easily slipped into the bed with Maria. "He's out like a baby."

Frank softly laughed and gently touched his face, watching his dark eyes close from the contact. "How long has it been since we've really been together?"

"Maybe a week - since you had the operation, of course." He watched her hand graze down his chest to his belt. John could feel his heart beginning to pound in his chest and licked his lips. "Any ideas what you're going to do?"

Grinning seductively and undoing his belt with one hand, Maria pressed her lips to his and whispered, "As long as we both stay on our sides, I'll be perfectly fine. Now where's the condom?" She watched his hand reach behind him and pulled out his wallet, handing it to her. Keeping her eyes locked with his, she reached into it and pulled out one package. Taking the corner gently in her teeth, Maria moved down until she was face-to-face with the growing bulge in his slacks. Sliding down the zipper and lowering down his slacks and boxers, Frank pressed her lips to the side of his erection, earning a soft groan.

John opened his eyes slowly and reached a hand down to weave his fingers through her hair as she opened the condom and eased it onto him painlessly. Once Maria went to work on him, Munch tried his damn hardest to not grip her scalp too hard in case he harmed her, but it was very difficult. Feeling her hand on his waist to keep his steady, he let out a long moan and gripped the bedsheets with his other hand, turning his head towards the pillow to gasp into.

Using her free hand to cup him gently, Maria hummed softly and grinned to herself when she felt his hand tighten in her hair. Removing her mouth and lifting her head to see him pressing his face into the pillow to stifle his cries and gasps, she gently patted his stomach with her hand and said, "You can cry out, sweetheart." He moved his head to look at her and letting her see what she was doing to him. Gently rotating what she held in her hand and feeling the velvet-like skin that encased what she held, Frank grinned when he gasped loudly before slipping her mouth back over him once more. _That's my man. Make as much noise as you want._

Feeling sweat starting to crease along his face and neck from the ongoing pleasure Maria was giving him, John bit down on his bottom lip and couldn't take it much longer. He wanted it to go on forever, but he knew it was going to end in an explosion of long-held sexual energy he had been holding onto. "I c-can't hold on..." He struggled to say as his body began to react and his pulse pounding in his ears began to grow louder.

Maria kept her hand on his package and used her other hand to stroke him as she continued to suck him off, feeling his erection starting to reach his peak. Smiling to herself, she hummed once more and felt him tense up as he climaxed. Clenching his jaw and releasing a slow groan between his teeth, John squeezed his eyes shut and just allowed himself to loose himself to her, allowing his body to release everything he had been holding in for a week.

It took him two minutes to finally finish really climaxing and Maria never removed herself from where she was until he was really done. Finally removing her mouth and releasing his now exhausted organ and package, she lifted his shirt just enough to lightly kiss his stomach as he caught his breath. Taking a chance to sit up a little more and lifting his shirt more, Maria placed her hands along his trembling body and feeling every muscle twitching from the lightest touch.

Munch closed his eyes from her touches and pressed his thumb and forefinger to his eyes, feeling tears in the corner of his eyes. "Mar?" Resting her cheek against his eyes and rubbing his back with a hand with her other hand under his shirt and resting on his chest, Maria answered him softly. "Thank you so much. I haven't felt that kind of climax for a long time."

"It's not a problem, Johnny." Frank kissed his warm flesh once more, allowing her tongue to lightly graze along his skin. Her eyes observed him drifting in and out and she softly exhaled a slow breath. One of the many things in their relationship that had her feel like she was the queen of the world was right in front of her; seeing John beyond exhausted after she had done him proved how much he enjoyed her handy work. "What me to clean you up?"

Inhaling a slow breath and lifting his head a little to look at her, Munch placed a hand on her cheek and caressed it softly. "As long as it doesn't hurt you."

"I'll move slowly, of course. You just don't look aware enough to do it yourself." Slowly rolling over and hanging her legs over the edge of the bed, Frank placed a hand over her surgical area and carefully stood up. It took her seven minutes to get a damp washcloth and reach for the trash bucket before walking back into the bedroom. John was attempting to stay awake long enough for her to clean him up and lay next to him. His attempts were pretty futile. "It's okay to fall asleep, hun," Maria sighed as she gradually sat down to sit beside him. Seeing how he was still facing away from her and what she needed to reach was on the other side of the heaping mass of exhausted human.

Munch slowly shook his head and inhaled a sharp breath when he felt her fingers touching him once more, slowly removing the condom. "No. I don't want to until you're right here with me, in my arms." Closing his eyes when he felt the warm damp cloth being used to clean him, John attempted to reach down and push his slacks off to get more comfortable.

"I'll take care of it," Maria whispered softly in his ear, tossing the cloth into the hamper. Standing up very slowly and walking to the foot of the bed, she removed his socks and began to ease the slacks off as he slowly lifted his hips to push them down. Once he was free of them, Frank laid down in bed and lifted his boxers up to cover him back up. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?" She asked once she was settled against him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it feels like it took us forever to get your slacks off." She chuckled softly and grimaced. "Shit. I shouldn't have done that." Munch placed his hand on her lower abdomen and watched her face as she took several breaths. "I've probably pushed myself a little too much today."

Sighing softly and brushing the hair away from her eyes, John shushed her softly. "Just keep taking some deep breaths and relax." There was nothing he could really do in his state due to his sheer exhaustion and Maria seemed to take it under control rather quickly. "How long does the pain last?"

"Not long. Another good sign I'm healing at a normal pace. If the pain was still going strong, I would be concerned." Her fingers brushed along his neck and noticed he was really starting to drift in and out. "How about we just get some sleep, okay? Stop forcing yourself to stay awake for my sake."

He snorted softly and cracked open an eye. "What makes you think I would stay awake for you?"

"It's imprinted in your genes," Maria explained simply as she reached for the comforter and tucked it around them. "You always wait for me to fall asleep before you do. It's imprinted in your smart ass genes, dear." She chuckled when he moved to hold her closer and nibble behind her ear. "And so is that, too." He gave a small smile and finally settled down, leaving Maria to snuggle closer. Smiling to herself, she linked her fingers with his and closed her eyes.

**To be continued...**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

"Oh, I don't think so, sport," John muttered as he grabbed for the back of Ben's shirt as the baby took off towards the kitchen to follow Maria. Carrying the squealing seven month old under his arms, Munch placed him into the living room and reached for the baby-gate. Both Maria and John had learned rather quickly Ben loved to explore in locations where he wasn't suppose to be and had already busted passed two baby-proof locks - one to the cupboard under the sink and the one to their CD collection. Locking the gate into place, he watched Ben grasp the hard plastic bars and pushed, as if he was hoping they would break. "Sorry, little guy. I'll be right back."

Frank softly laughed in the kitchen, slowly peeling an orange at a small table near a window. "Like you think he'll remember that. He's smart, John, and will be moving on to something else to find." It was finally the middle of her last week of taking things slow and was slowly working back into her routine. "Give him five minutes and he'll find something to get into trouble with." She watched the gate move a few more times as he continued to tug on it. "Kinda feels like he's Chucky from the movies."

Shaking his head with a smile, Munch rinsed out a washcloth and went back to cleaning the high chair. "Might as well be. He's wicked smart for his own good. Think he'll find a conspiracy in day care or school?"

"Might just," Maria answered back, taking a bite from a piece of orange. "Give him time and he'll be walking real soon. We know crawling wasn't easy for him, but now that he's over that hurtle, he'll be walking before we know it." She noticed he slightly winced at the idea and chuckled. "Just take it day-by-day, dear. If you concentrate on him walking, you'll miss out on the other milestones he'll make."

"I know." Sighing softly and drying off the tray with a hand towel, he placed it on the counter and began wiping down the seat. "But, he's going to walk rather quickly, though. I was a very quick learner when it came to walking."

She nodded her head and placed down an orange peel on her paper towel. "I was, too. Learning to crawl was trouble for me, but once I started going, my parents had a hard time keeping up with me." Hearing a clank and a small giggle, they both turned to see Ben had succeeded in knocking over the baby gate and was slowly working his way over it to Maria's legs. Gripping her sweatpants with both hands, he hoisted himself up and stood perfectly still, smiling up at his mother. "Either way, this little guy is the best person we've had in our lives," she commented, running her fingers through his fine dark hair. With the help from John, she hoisted him onto her lap and picked up a slice of orange for him to gnaw on. His two primary top teeth were finally in and his bottom two were on their way.

Feeling a smile tugging at his lips seeing the two together, Munch snapped the tray back into place and placed it back into the corner where they kept it. He took a quick glance at the calender and smirked. "Hey, Mar?"

"Yes?"

"You do know what's coming up at the end of the week, right?" He watched her raise her eyes to glance at him over her glasses and his smirk grew bigger. "I knew you'd know. Of course, I wouldn't want us jumping right to having fun once the week is over. It is up to you."

Maria wrapped her arms around Ben has he continued to suck on the orange and warmly smiled at John. "Well, if everything's all right for this weekend, we can certainly have our fun. We will probably have to have a talk in case you," She nodded her head to one side and shrugged. "You know."

"Pre-ejaculate." As much as he hated to say it, Munch muttered it as he sighed. "You think that's going to happen?"

"I'm pretty positive it will." Tilting her head a little and seeing he was deep in thought, she snapped her fingers and beckoned him to come closer. Once he squatted down to look at her better, Maria cupped his chin and smiled. "Don't worry about it. We've talked about this time and time again, right?" He nodded, despite her hand holding him. "Well, stop thinking I'm going to kick your ass or I am going to kick your ass for being one."

"If I do, you know I'm going to mope around. It's like a kick into my ego." He took a hold of her hand to release him and stood up, drying off the counter and hanging the dishtowel to dry. "You know how I am, so-"

Maria cut him off with a sift sigh. "I know. you hide in the bathroom and grumbling to yourself while I sit outside the door and try to coax you out." She watched Ben happily slap her hands with his as if giving her high fives. "I can see Ben now coming out of his room for a bathroom break and seeing me sitting there and talking to the wall. Just the thought of explaining it to him would be so much fun."

Munch snorted and turned his head to give her a smile. "'Hey, Ben. Daddy's having some issues with himself. Want to know how you came along? Well, it all started like this...' You'll be able to tell him the whole story by the time I come back out."

"Very funny, Johnny. Very funny," Maria softly laughed and reached for Ben's pacifier, popping it into his mouth to suck on. "I'm thinking we need to celebrate him finally crawling. What do you think?"

Taking a seat in front of her and thinking to himself, John watched the baby taking him car keys and shook them, watching them rattle with each rough shaking he did. "How about giving him his favorite foods and a present or two of some new toys? He does need a new door jumper since he practically worn his other one out from constant jumping."

"Sounds good. We can get a few new things to help him learn how to walk and some activity books to help him with talking. Oh! Know what he seems to like? Those problem solving block things. Can't think of the name though...," She lightly bit down on her bottom lip as she thought while making sure Ben didn't attempted to remove his pacifier and put a key into his mouth. "Well, I can't think of it, but there are some pretty awesome activity centers for infants his age I saw online and in the store."

John nodded and reached for a piece of paper and a pen on the table, making a list. With Ben crawling, beginning to talk and was soon to learn how to walk, it was time to really get items to help improve his learning abilities. To celebrate his first crawling and not falling over, new activities were needed to keep up with his learning skills. "I can make dinner for us and whip up his favorite foods as our dinner together and then show him his new stuff. He's been doing well learning to take a fork and spoon. Want to get him a new spoon and fork that's easier for him to grasp?"

"That will work." She leaned over to look at what he was writing down and both froze when they heard her stomach grumble. John stifled a laugh and covered it weakly with a cough. "Ha ha. Very funny. Going to take something for that cough?" She sassed him and earned a look, making her laugh. When her stomach grumbled again, they both knew it was time for lunch. "Those oranges I had didn't last long, did they?"

He stood and shook his head, picking up the orange peels and placing them in the trash. "Nope. What shall we have for lunch then?"

"Do we have some macaroni and cheese in the cupboard?" Maria asked, readjusting her hold on Ben as he settled against her, resting his head against chest. "Looks like Ben's starting to drift off before lunch. Have you been keeping him up later then usual?" She asked without a hint of concern in her voice.

Reaching for a box in the cupboard and pulling it down, he shook his head slowly and reached for a pot and lid. "Nope. I've been sticking to his schedule like clockwork. He is using more energy now that he's crawling. Does he have a fever?" He watched Maria place her hand against his forehead and shook her head. "That's good."

"It seems to be just from using more energy as he crawls around." She lightly shrugged and lightly patted his back has he shifted closer to her and fell asleep. For the next few minutes, they watched Ben sleep as they waited for the water to boil and the noodles to cook thoroughly. Even as he slept, the baby always looked like he was still running on his leftover energy; the pacifier moved as he dreamed about anything from nursing from his mother to dreams that couldn't be interpreted. A socked covered foot twitched every now and then and his facial muscles lightly spazzed as his dreams spanned off into something more interactive.

Mixing the cheese with the noodles to make their lunches, John opted to feed Maria himself instead of her struggling to feed herself with one hand and part of her arm holding Ben in place on her lap. "How about this," John started as he forked up a forkful of macaroni and cheese for her to take. "We can celebrate Ben's big day of crawling this Friday and you and I can finally indulge in our favorite exercise routine afterward."

John grinned and felt himself shivering slightly at just the thought of indulging with Maria without the use of protection in the way. Only during special days - his birthday, his promotion to Sergent, and other days - did they indulge on their fun bareback, after Maria took in the pill for prevention. They could have just had the pill between them, but she hated dealing with the mess afterward after Munch climaxed deep in her depths, so the condoms were kept close. After this, the condoms were to be used for when Maria would go down on him and when she didn't want to clean him up after. "I really, really can't wait," He whispered against her ear when he leaned in, offering her a fork full of food. "Think we can lay down together and cuddle later?"

"Sure. of course we can." She smiled and patted Ben's back gently when he shifted against her. "With fabric between us or not?" She winked when he raised his eyebrows. "You can pick, dear."

He grinned slowly and tipped her bowl over to scoop up what was left. "Do I really have to answer that or does my expression explain enough?"

"It explains enough." Frank took in the last of her lunch and slowly chewed so John would catch up and finish his before they placed Ben down to finish his nap and laid down together. Once John had placed the dishes into the dishwasher and removed the sleeping baby from her lap, Maria headed into the living room to try and straighten up Ben's play area which consisted of blocks, balls with a small basketball hoop he was enjoying playing with half the time, interactive plastic toys, mind puzzles, problem solving games, stuffed animals and various toys that made musical sounds to sound in his artistic skills. "Don't push yourself too hard, babe." He reminded her, noticing she had bent down slowly to pick up two blocks so they wouldn't trip over them.

"I will. I'm just getting these out of the way." She placed them into a toy box Olivia had gotten for them when he started sitting up and playing more.

Once Ben was played down for his nap and the monitor was turned on, John helped Maria undress and then was helped by her before they crawled under the covers and into each other's arms. Munch wrapped once arm around her and lowered the covers enough to glance down at her small healed incisions. "They're looking really good," He stated, running his fingers gently over them before moving to lean down and press his lips to them. "Can't even feel them under my lips, either."

"That's good. That thing I need is more raised scars for us to feel." Frank tilted her head to one side and combed her fingers through his hair as he sat back up and settled against her. Feeling his fingers outlining her neck and collarbone, she closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder. "Kept having this dream for the passed few days about Ben."

"Oh, yeah?"

She nodded against him and placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart thumping under her palm. "Yeah. We had told him he wasn't planned when he was around eight, he threw a fit and went to live with your mother."

"Damn. I don't think mom would object to her grandson living with her, but I don't think he would throw a fit when we tell him." Pulling the covers over them to stay warm, he interlaced their fingers together. "Ben's smarter then he looks and I'm sure he won't flip out when we do tell him."

"I know, but it's weirded me out. Bernie took the part of getting him into a private Jewish school, taking him to Shul, teaching him things about Judaism that we won't be because of our beliefs and what we live by. Ben was able to signs some papers about not wanting contact with us because of what we told him, a Judge allowed it to pass and we were allowed visitations once a month."

John cocked an eyebrow and pulled his head back to give her a look. "Okay... That's really weird. Sounds like your worries about telling him."

"I'm not worried about it, but it's like my mind is trying to work something else over. I did the same thing with Scott, but I never had a chance to tell him, even though I would stand over him in the crib and tell him as he slept peacefully. Even went as far as telling him when he was dying in my arms at the hospital. At least I can have a chance to tell Ben something I couldn't tell his long deceased brother." She nestled against Munch and sighed. "I get some weird ass dreams, John. Sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't."

**To be continued...**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content. Heh.**

By Friday afternoon, Maria was practically back to her old self and carrying Ben around as he attempted to follow her around. Grasping her shirt in his hands, he held on as she bent down to pick up a few toys he had tossed up the stairs while playing. "All right. Let's see if this is everything you've tossed around, you bean." She muttered with a smirk as she scanned the stairs for any sign of a missed toy. Ben giggled and clapped his hands together, seeing his mother had found all of his 'missing' toys. "You're lucky I love you, Ben," She sarcastically remarked, kissing his forehead happily.

"Find them all?" John asked as he placed a bag down on the couch. Inside were some new toys for Ben he had placed in perfectly. Once dinner was done, they were going to show him his new things as a 'congratulations for crawling' kind of thing. His new doorway jumper was already hanging and up as of last night when they noticed the old one wasn't safe for him anymore. It was promptly tossed and replaced.

"I think so. From how excited he is, I believe I did." She tossed them into the toy box and placed Ben into his doorway jumper to bounce around in. Watching him chewing on a few fingers as he grinned up at her, Maria smiled and laughed when he laughed. "He's growing fast, John."

Wrapping his arms around her holding her against him, Munch whispered, "Yes, he is." They watched as the baby looked down where he was and moved his sock covered feet in a walking motion. "He'll be walking sooner instead of later, just from watching this."

"You might be right," She agreed, turning her head to look at him. Eyes locking for a moment, she wished for a second they were younger just so they would be able to have a real planned family. "Once he starts walking, we're going to have our work cut out for us, you know." Her voice was at a whisper when he slowly began to lower his head to kiss her.

He paused for a moment to think and nodded his head in one direction. "Yes, we will be," he replied softly as he began to lower his head again. When Maria turned her head away from him with a smile, he exhaled a whine. "Please..."

"I want it just as much as you do, but we promised each other we would wait for tonight." She was answered with another whine and feeling him resting his chin on her shoulder. "Whining and begging isn't going to make it any easier, babe. For now it's Ben's day and then we can have fun." She pulled away slowly and picked the baby up, resting him on her hip. "Shall I make dinner or do you want to?"

Munch gave her a wink and answered, "I'll take care of it. Anything in particular you want?"

"Surprise me." She flashed a smile and placed Ben on the floor, watching him crawl in the direction of his play area in the middle of the living room. They both watched him scoot over to sit up and play with a Sesame Street toy. "You know what to do with his dinner, right?"

"Yep; rice cereal, mashed peas and mashed turkey. I'll take care of it all." He headed into the kitchen and placed up the baby gate to keep Ben out.

Seeing he was being sneaky, Maria turned and sat on the floor to play with Ben as he hit a few buttons to make cookie monster talk. He clapped his hands together and looked up at his mother with a huge grin, showing off his newly sprouted teeth. "Good job, Ben," She praised him happily, clapping her hands with him. Shifting closer as Ben crawled towards her to sit on her lap, she picked up a few blocks and stacked them on top of each other. "See? Can you do that?"

The little Munch knocked them down with a swing of his arm and laughed. Taking one block in one hand and another in his other hand, he banged them together and began to learn to stack them. He placed one down and placed the second on the edge of the other. When he fell over, he made a small whine and picked up the fallen yellow block again. He placed it back on top of the blue block and released it too soon, watching it fall over again. He sighed against Maria and picked it back up. Maria had seen him do this before; if she was to help him, he would shove her hand away and figure it out himself. Tilting her head to look around him to watch him stack them, she smiled when he perfectly balanced the yellow block on top of the blue one and slowly released his hold. When it didn't fall over, he clapped his hands together and laughed. "Good job, Ben. Very good job." She praised him softly, placing her hand on top of his head and stroked his dark hair. He turned his head to smile at her and reached a hand up to pat the side of her face, as if he was praising her as well. "You are one smart little boy, aren't you?"

"Mama!" He exclaimed happily, turning to face forward again and reached for another toy to play with. Clad in blue overalls with a white long sleeve shirt and blue socks, Ben was certainly a fast growing baby.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"Tada!" John removed the baby gate an hour later and picked up Ben quickly as the baby made his way towards to kitchen. The smell of some delicious had finally wrapped itself around Maria and she couldn't resist looking at what he had made. On the counter was Ben's dinner in a divided plate, a baby-sized plastic spoon beside it with a sippy cup. On the table was spaghetti with salad and wine for them. "What do you think?"

Maria grinned at what she saw and looked at him. "This is amazing, John. I wouldn't have guessed you were making this!"

"Well, I had to keep it as silent as possible so you wouldn't know. I didn't want any sound to spoil the what I was cooking up." He walked in and placed Ben in the highchair before turning to the counter and picking up his food. "Got all of his favorites here, including some very tiny bites of peas and turkey so he'll chew." Laughing when Ben clapped his hands and attempted to see what was in his hands, Munch placed them down and the little Munch grabbed for a small handful of rice cereal, tasting it happily. "Come. Sit."

Slipping into a seat and waiting patiently for him to pour a glass of wine for the both of them, Frank couldn't wait to taste what was in store for them. "I'm surprised you didn't put candles down," She teased playfully.

"Nah. Ben wouldn't have eaten anything if there were candles. He would have been too distracted to eat for the night." John winked at her and she softly chuckled when he sat down across from her and they lifted their glasses together. Taking a small sip and placing his glass down, he waited for Maria to finish with her sip and asked, "What do you think?"

"Really good. You know I'm not much of a wine person, but that is pretty good." She lifted the glass once more to take another sip, watching John help Ben with his cup. Since he was still learning to really grasp a cup with handles, either one of them had to help him when he would grasp it and attempted to hold it. Slowly tipping it back as Ben began to tilt his head back, Munch smiled when he took a small drink and placed the cup back down. "Looks like he's starting to finally get a hang of it."

Picking at his dinner before taking a bite, he nodded and replied, "He sure does. Looks like he's developing a little faster then some infants out there. When will he be considered a toddler?"

"When he starts walking. We're going to have to put up baby-gates everywhere once that starts."

"We'll take care of it, no worries there." His dark eyes watched her as she shuffled around the salad and pierced a cucumber. "Do you have any idea what I have planned for the night?" She raised her eyes and grinned while slowly chewing. "What to know or have an idea?"

"How about an idea," Maria answered softly, hoping Ben wasn't going to notice the slight change in the air. He seemed very content in his food at the moment.

John nodded his head in the direction of the cupboard closest to the refrigerator and grinned. "Ever noticed the frosting sitting in there?" When she went bright red and slowly nodded, he continued, "That's just for the middle of it for a quick sugar rush."

"I can't wait." Once those words were out of her mouth, Maria seemed to have moved from eating at a steady pace to picking up the speed a little, as if she wanted to get food out of the way. John began to laugh inwardly at her change and knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. They just had to finish dinner and place Ben down for the night before they could finally play.

* * *

Once the kitchen was clean and the frosting was in his hands, John walked up the stairs just in time to see Maria closing the door to Ben's room. "Ready?"

Maria took a hold of his hand and pulled him into the bedroom, kicking the door closed to make her point clear. "Very," She whispered, pulling him down for a much needed and passionate kiss, exploring each other's mouth hungrily. Eagerly removing each other's clothes until they were both clear of fabric and able to feel each other's skin, John slowly grinned when he opened the frosting container and smeared a small amount along her neck, watching her tilt her head back and eyes slipping closed.

Dipping his head and very slowly slipping his mouth over the frosting to suck on the area, he earned a well deserved gasp, his hands moving up to cup her breasts gently. Feeling her hands grasping his hips, he pushed her back gently onto the bed and hovered over her dangerous, leaning down to roughly nibble her left hip. When she yelped and arched her at the same time, he took the chance to watch her react to every touch he did. When she opened her eyes and reached a hand out for him, Munch crawled over and lightly touched his nose to her's. "I love you," he whispered softly.

Whispering back the same to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to explore each other's mouths once again, pulling him closer when she felt his long fingers brushing against her neck and roaming down to her shoulders. "Touch me lower," She muttered against his lips softly, feeling her senses going into overdrive from not having any contact with him for so long.

John moved one hand between them and gently caressed her lower, feeling her gasping and squirming under him from the very light touch. Softly smiling at her reactions, he moved to kiss and nibble along her neck and ear, feeling the vocal vibrations against his lips as he moved to the center of her throat, running his tongue along the faint scar. Through all of their rising excitement, Munch attempted to control himself, but it was too late._ Oh, shit._

Pressing his face into her Frank's neck and deeply groaning, he could feel himself climaxing far too soon and the atmosphere around them changed. "Fuck," he muttered as he worked to get up and off of Maria's body. Feeling her sitting up behind him and slightly touching his shoulder, he shrugged her off and sighed in frustration. "I can't fucking believe I just did that! I wanted this to be fucking perfect for us and I had to go ahead and fucking do that." Feeling her hand once again on his shoulder and turning his head, he instantly began to feel guilt towards her and slowly turned to face her. "I-I'm so sorry, Mar. I didn't mean to do that...I couldn't stop it," he frantically said, feeling his fears from his last marriage creeping up to him. "I-I just...I'm so sorry."

Gently shushing him and wrapping her arms around him, Maria tried to comfort him, but could feel his body tensing up under her. "It's all right, John." He couldn't draw himself to move without showing Maria his humiliation and wanted to disappear from her sight. Sighing softly and rubbing his back gently, Maria tilted her head to look into his face and saw the romance was gone in his eyes. "John...," She touched his face softly and he flinched. "It's all right now. I'm not angry-"

Quickly pulling himself away and pressing his face into his hands, he took a few deep breaths and muttered, "I'm so sorry, Mar. I didn't mean for this to happen. I-If I had taken care of business the whole time you were recovering, this wouldn't have fucking happened." He inhaled a deep breath to calm himself from freaking out, flashbacks to his last marriage were starting to send terrifying shivers up his spine.

"Don't start with that, hun. You know perfectly well I don't take it personally and I won't be angry with you." She placed her hand on his bare back and felt his muscles tense and relax under her touch. "Look at me, John Munch." He firmly shook his head and made a motion to get up, but she quickly grabbed his wrist and held on. "No. You are not going off to hide some place."

Instead of trying to pull his wrist free, John could only stand there with his eyes looking everywhere else except Maria's. He couldn't make himself look at her. "I wanted this to be perfect for you," he finally said, his voice in a whisper. "I tried to make this the best evening for you since your surgery and I wanted everything to be perfect." His voice began to crack and his brown eyes began to glaze over, feeling everything he had worked to put into place was ruined and he felt humiliated and vulnerable to the only woman he trusted. "I'm so, so sorry."

Standing up to face him and taking both of his hands in her's, Maria look straight up into his eyes and made sure to lock her gaze on his. "There is nothing to apologize for," she whispered gently to him, her fingers gently grazing over his. "I'm nothing like the others and there is no way I'm Billie Lou. I love you more then anything and I won't kick you out just because of a small accident. No matter how much browsing you think you should have done with your magazines, this would have still happened because being with me and being with a magazine are two different things." Frank reached a hand up and touched his face, softly smiling when he didn't flinch from her touch. "We can still make this evening perfect for the both of us, not just me."

Leaning into her hand and softly sighing, John weaved his fingers between her and squeezed her fingers. "You're right and I'm sorry for being an ass when you're trying to be supportive. I just... I hate it when I do that. It's not the greatest feeling in the world to climax without you with me."

"I know and I hate that feeling, too." She freed one hand and traced her fingers down his chest until she was barely an inch from his core. When she felt him shiver under her teasing touches, she gently steered him back towards the bed and eased him down onto the mattress. "Just take some deep, steady breaths and I'll take care of it." When he licked his lips with anticipation, Maria leaned down and gently kissed him. "Lay on your back and bend your knees," she whispered, her lips barely brushing against his.

John nodded his head slowly and laid down, resting his head on the pillow. "What are you going to do?"

"You'll see," She slowly grinned and moved to sit next to him, placing a hand on his stomach. "Just remember we'll work slow so it won't happen again, okay?" Her eyes scanned him over and saw he was already getting excited for what was coming. Running her fingers slowly over his hardening member and watching him gasp softly from the contact, Frank leaned down and deeply kissed him again. "Ready?"

He grinned from ear to ear, nodding his head when words didn't come. John watched her get up and lower herself down over him, making sure his hardened member was going in with her hand guiding him. Raising her eyes when she felt his hands grasp her ankles, she moved her legs down by his shoulders and leaned back against his legs for support. Munch groaned and tossed his head back, closing his eyes. "Wow."

Maria giggled and moved her hands back for support. "I haven't even done anything yet, silly."

"I know, but... this feels really good. When was the last time we had sex without protection?" He asked, running his hands up and down her legs.

"Oh, I don't know, but this does feel really good for me, too." She experimented with the position and moved a little, causing them both to softly gasp. "We should do this more often."

John hummed in approval and began to slowly thrust as Maria used her hands for support, feeling his hands roaming over what he could reach. Deciding to move with him, she lowered herself down when he moved up, making their bodies react with the sensations and they both began to moan together. Gripping her hips with his hands, Munch began to move a little faster when he noticed he wasn't about to climax too early and his body began to fill with pride when Maria tossed her head back.

Frank gripped the sheets under her hands and lifting her head back, she rotated her hips a little and felt his fingernails dig into her hips. Biting down on her bottom lip and holding back a loud gasp, she quickly noticed with her rotating and his thrusts combined together, they both created amazing pleasure and it sent electricity pulsing up and down her spine and John arched his back, nearing his peak once more. They were barely ten minutes into their blissful lovemaking and sweat was already being bead along their bodies as they neared closer and closer to their climaxes as she tossed her head back again and gasped his name while he arched his back once more and deeply moaned in his throat.

Placing one hand on the back of his thigh, Maria sharply gasped and seconds later, John grunted and dug his fingernails into her hips, crying when he climaxed into her depths. Biting down on her bottom lip, she closed her eyes when she quickly noticed she could feel him pulsing in her depths and smiled to herself, knowing they had finally done it without worries. "Wow is going to be the word tonight," she whispered softly, inbetween gasping for air and trying not to lower herself down too far or she would have harmed him.

Resting his head back and inhaling a deep breath, John placed his hands on her stomach and felt her muscles moving with each small movement he made. Eyes moving down towards her lower regions, he could see the breathtaking view of what was visible of himself and her on top of him. "Yes, wow is going to be the word for tonight," he finally agreed, placing his hands on her hips and gently lifted her off of him. "What to lay down for a bit or keep moving on?"

"Depends what you want. If you want it, I'll go with it," She whispered, resting herself on his stomach and placing her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating quickly under her hand. "Although I do think you need to take a rest for yourself to calm down from your high."

He nodded in agreement and reached for a tissue from the tissue box, reaching a hand down to clean up where Maria rested. "You're going to need this though," he gave her a small wink and sheepishly smiled when she looked down only to lift her head with her face turning red. "I'm going to guess it's been a while since we've done this, seeing your blushing."

"Like I can remember _this _being part of the deal." She took the tissue from his hand and lifted herself to clean up a little more. "Thanks for pointing this out, by the way. Would be embarrassing to get off of you and leave a mark on your stomach."

"I wouldn't object though." He raised his eyebrows and laughed when she lightly slapped him in the arm, wrapping his arms around her and rolling them over. Kissing her deeply and feeling her fingers digging into his upper arms, John felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have the most perfect woman and the greatest son in his life. "I think I'm ready for a second round, now."

Laughing and wrapping her arms around his neck when he lowered his head down to kiss her chest, Maria went with the flow when he gently rolled her onto her side and straddled her lower leg, resting her top leg on his shoulder. Placing his hand on her side, Munch eased himself in and watched her groan softly and grasped his hand. "Oh, God," she whispered, feeling him moving slowly and gentle at first, testing the pleasurable waters he was entering. Keeping his eyes on her to watch for any pain, he moved just a little more closer to get himself deep as possible without harming Maria.

It caused the exact opposite. Inhaling a sharp breath and eyes flashing open, Frank couldn't stop herself from groaning and moaning with each thrust John provided and he smiled to himself. His ego was going to explode if he experienced anymore pride-fulfilling scenes before him. Keeping his hand on her side, he moved his other hand to her thigh and inched a little closer until he could feel himself ready to climax just from the sensation. Watching her grip the sheets and tossing her head back with a gasp once he began moving again, he dug his finely clipped fingernails into her side and sharply gasped.

Seconds later, Maria climaxed with him and they were soon an exhausted and panting mass; Munch barely holding himself up from collapsing on top of Frank and causing some slight harm to both of them. She partially rolled onto her back and placed a hand over her eyes. "Holy shit," she panted, feeling her body slightly jerking from John brushing up against her in an attempt to move himself before collapsing. "I can't take anymore or I'm going to die of exhaustion, John."

Finally managing to lay on his back and closing his eyes for a moment, he nodded his head in agreement. "I'll take that offer, too. Tell me; why did you get the operation sooner?" He turned his head just enough to see her glance at him under her hand, a smirk crossed her lips. "I mean, really now. Should have had it done years ago."

"Because I like to watch you suffer with using protection all the time," She explained, lowering her hand and rolling her head to one side to look at him. "I don't think I can move, either." Watching John drape an arm over her and press his lips against her neck, Maria chuckled and moved her still trembling arms to wrap them around his shoulders. "Can we just stay like this?"

"Of course," he whispered, inhaling her intoxicating scent along her neck and shoulders. There was just something about her sweat that drove him crazy. "If the baby wakes up, one of us is going to have to flip for it, though."

Maria laughed softly. "You have a deal, dear." Turning her head to see him shifting beside her, she whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too." He replied, wrapping his arms around her loosely as she shifted the sheets and comforter to cover them.

**To be continued...**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are created by me. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.  
A/N: Sorry this took soooo damn long. Been stuck doing a drama-filled O' fun with another fic and got a little carried away. Also got stuck with a writer's block. I know how and when I'm going to end this endless fic, but the details inbetween is the hardest part. **

John Munch shifted his hold of now thirteen month old Ben on his lap. It was finally time to get working on planning out something both him and Maria Frank wanted in a long time; marriage. Ben was finally old enough to the point where they were not up all hours of the night with feeding, changing or soothing him back to sleep. Munch kept one hand around his son's stomach to keep him balanced and jotted down a few things as he and Maria rattled a few ideas back and forth. "Now, what are we going to do about invitations? we want this small, right?"

"Right," Maria answered, smiling down at Ben as he grinned up at her. His pearly white teeth were still coming in, but his had an almost full mouth of them and loved to flash them for a smile. "I don't think Bernie's daughter hasn't even met her cousin yet." She commented, referring to John's brother who had a child of his own. "How old is she now?"

Lifting his head and thinking for a moment, John didn't notice Ben was chewing on his thumb until he felt a sharp tooth sink in. "Ouch!" He lifted Ben and placed him to sit on the table for a moment, hand holding his overall straps. "Well, she has to be around ten by now. I haven't seen her in a while, either. Both Bernie and I have been too busy to really keep in touch about how family life. "Eve's going to love meeting you," He said to the toddler, laughing when he attempted to say his cousin's name. "Can you say Eve?"

"Effa!" He said happily, wiggling himself until John placed him on the floor. With a careful eye to watch where he walked off to, Munch walked Ben scuttle off where the toy box and lifted the lid. "Toy," came a muffled squeal as he search out a certain toy to bring out and play with. His hoisted himself up until he was on his bare toes, reaching for that one specific toy. "Toooooy!" Yanking a stuffed animal out, the little Munch grinned and teetered on his still developing long legs, plopping on his behind.

Both froze and watched him for a moment, waiting to see if he was going to be upset. When he huffed slightly and hoisted himself back up onto his feet - stuffed animal still in his hands - his parents released a held breath and went back to planning out. "All right, let's look at this here," Maria reached for a piece of paper and scanned it over. "We have your mother, brother and his wife, niece, Don, Fin, Liv, Elliot and his family. Anyone else we want to invite?"

"What about Huang and Warner?" John suggested, placing Ben back onto his lap when he finally returned to his side. He handed the toddler a wide crayon and allowed him to 'draw' on a spare piece of paper with the bright red crayon in his fist. The stuffed animal was tucked under Ben's left arm as he began to suck on the ear, kicking his long legs back and forth.

Writing it down and seeming satisfied with what they had achieved for the day, Frank looked over at the toddler and smiled when he looked up and grinned back, the ear of the stuffed bear wet from being sucked out. "Looks like it's dinner time for the bear-eater." Ben giggled and reached a hand up over his head and touched his father's chin. "Who's that, Ben?"

"Daddy!" He answered happily, laughing when John lifted up and over his head, playfully and carefully tossing him up and down in the air. Ben's squeals of joy filled the room and he clapped his hand when settled back down a few minutes later. "More!"

"No, no more for now." John patted the toddler's back and noticed Maria had gathered up what they had done to make room for dinner. "Want me to make it?" Munch had begun to insist on making meals the more Maria began to wonder about their wedding, knowing she was going to be stressing more and more. It was also giving her a chance to play and take care of Ben, possibly even a chance to nurse him as she was nursing him less and less. He had grown to respect her decision to nurse him until he was three to give him a better chance at health and it was the same thing she had done with Scott.

"Sure, if you want to." Frank grinned as she bounced Ben on her lap, laughing when he reached a hand out and placed his tiny hand over her nose. "you're such a nut," she muttered with a grin as Ben reached a hand up and slipped her glasses off to check them out once more.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

A few months later -

The sun was finally shining that January afternoon and John and Maria took the chance to let Ben outside for some fresh winter air and a chance to get his energy out. It was also a chance for John to show the toddler a real basketball. Clad in a thick coat for warmth, mittens on his hands and a hat on his dark-haired head, the little Munch stood in the middle of the driveway and watched as his father knelt down and gently bounced the ball before pushing it in his direction. Ben's first instinct was to kick it back, making Maria laugh as John bowed his head in defeat. "He'll get the hang of it, John. Don't worry."

"Yeah, I'm not worried. I'm expecting him to kick it back anyway since he can't pick up a ball this big yet." He smiled in Ben's direction when he yelled, "Daddy!" for the ball to return. Gently bouncing the ball back to the toddler and watching him run after it towards the garage, Munch stood back up and grabbed Maria's attention. "Looks like we have a visitor."

Turning, Frank saw it was a familiar car with a familiar face inside. "Well, look at that. Looks like Liv came for a visit." She waved in Olivia Benson's direction and waited until she was closer before welcoming her. "Hey! Nice to see you around here. taking a day off?"

"Yes, I am. Thought I was would stop by to see how Ben's doing, too. It's been a month since I've seen him and wanted to see how much he's grown." She smiled when Ben came running towards her for a small hug before sprinting back to John for some more basketball time. Last month had been Ben's first birthday and practically everyone they knew had come to celebrate the special toddler's big day. An entire photo album in the living room was full of the photographs from that day. "Looks like he's gotten taller!"

Maria nodded with a smile. "Oh, yes. He has a lot of John's genes in him - including those long legs of his. His arms are getting longer, too. If he's not at John's height by the time he's sixteen, I'm going to be shocked!" The women laughed softly and clapped for Ben when he hit the ball with a mitten-clad hand, slowly sending it back to John's hands. "Good job, Ben!"

He grinned in his mother's direction and clapped with them in return.

* * *

"You seem to be adapting to motherhood rather well," Olivia complimented as she wrapped her hands around a mug of hot coffee, taking a chance to talk with Maria. John and Ben were still outside and playing with the ball. "I mean, I know you had Scott, but you seem to have adapted to it pretty well once more."

Nodding her head from side to side as she tossed that around, Frank raised her dark eyebrows and said, "It's like riding a bike for me. I've had to re-read over a few things that I couldn't remember or what was new in the world of raising a infant to a toddler, but everything else seems to have come back over time. John's taking to it very, very well and has been twitching to take him outside with that ball since the day he got it for Ben's birthday."

"He's certainly sprouting like a well cared for weed." Liv smiled before pausing when she heard crying coming from right outside the door. "What's going on?"

"Sounds like Ben might have taken a tumble," Maria answered as she got up in time to hold the door open for John who was carrying Ben tightly. "What's the matter?"

John stood Ben on the table and quickly removed his hat, showing a bloody scrape on his chin. "He went after the ball and took a tumble onto his face. I picked him up right away, but he didn't start crying until I was inches from the door. Took him a while to get over the shock." His hands were shaking from what had happened couldn't undo Ben's coat properly. "Mar? I need your help."

Swifting picking Ben up and calmly shushing him, Maria headed towards the bathroom and sat him down on the floor to reach the first aid kit under the sink cupboard. Olivia and John had followed her to the bathroom to observe and in case she needed any help. "John, can you hold him in your lap and Liv," Maria pointed down where the kitchen was. "Can you get him a slice of orange? It'll help him calm down and a small icepack in the freezer door."

Lifting Ben up and sitting on the end of the tub so she could clean out the wound, Munch was still slightly shaking and closed his eyes when Ben wailed once more, arching his back in pain against his father's chest. "I'm sorry, Ben. I'm so sorry I didn't catch you in time," he whispered softly, pressing his face in the toddler's dark hair and wrapping his arms to hold him still. "I feel so guilty now."

"It's okay, hun. Accidents and falls happen," Maria explained gently, carefully dabbing the scrape with antibiotic. "I'm surprised his nose didn't get banged up, too."

"He fell and landed on his chin while trying to catch the ball. I tried to catch him when I saw him starting to stumble, but," he shook his head and ran a soothing hand along Ben's forehead as he began to slowly calm down. "I can't stand watching him cry in pain."

Maria placed her hand on John's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I know you can't. I can't, either. Just keep soothing him so I can finish putting this cream one and then I can put a band aid on it."

"What's the ice pack going to be for?"

"I'm going to place it on his chin to help cool down the burning feeling. I've had scrapes and they hurt like hell and burn." She reached a hand up and took an icepack from Liv's hand when she returned, shaped it to fit Ben's chin and placed it against the wound. "There we go, Bennie. Do you want an orange?"

"Jay?" Ben asked is a hoarse voice from crying. Squriming when John cleaned his nose and pudgy cheeks from tears and mucus, the toddler noticed Benson was holding an orange slice and he smiled. "Jay!"

Liv smiled and handed the orange to him, watching him suck on the piece of fruit. "'Jay'? As in orange juice?"

"Yes. He loves oranges and we tried teaching him the word, but he would get easily frustrated with it to the point we called in 'jay' for orange juice aka O-jay." Munch explained as he tossed the used tissue in the trash can. "We knows the word when we say it and responds with 'jay'. He can't say hungry, but he says 'hugy' or 'food'. He also calls Fin 'unca' Fin instead of 'uncle'. He's learning and we praise him, even when it's pronounced wrong because that doesn't matter at his age. Just starting to say hard words is a huge improvement."

She shook her head with a smile and knelt down to watch Ben nibble on the orange slice. "That is amazing."

"Yes, it is." Maria responded, a huge smile on her face.

**To be continued...**  
**Once again, I apologize for taking so long with this. Busy weeks, long days and endless...everything. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU**

Happily bouncing up and down in his high chair, eighteen-month old Ben waited patiently for Maria to finish making his lunch while John was out running some errands. The months were trickling away the closer it came to their wedding and she was gradually feeling her anxiety coming when she thought about it. To distract herself, she began putting together some finger food for toddler to eat while she waited for John to return.

Placing the small plate of food on Ben's high chair tray, she glanced out to see huge snowflakes falling slowly from the sky and landing on their already snow-covered lawn. Ever since Ben's small accident a few months ago, the weather hadn't been behaving and that wasn't the only thing that hadn't been. Maria had noticed John wasn't really playing with Ben as much since he fell down, scrapping his chin. The injury had long-since healed, but he didn't seem the same around Ben when they were together.

To her, he was acting too cautious and nervous around the toddler and even he was noticing it, too. The week before, Ben had ran up to John with a small basketball in hand and a smile on his face, asking if they could play in the finished basement. The excitement that would appear in John's eyes wasn't there anymore and he ended up telling the boy he was busy and couldn't play with him. Ben walked away disappointed and Maria saw John's eyes rim with tears before he quickly turned his head away.

Now that Ben was a few months older and had more control of his leg movement, Frank finally decided it was time for her talk to Munch about his behavior around their son. All he wanted to do was play and John had been refusing or attempted to distract Ben with something else that didn't involve participation. Blowing out a breath and sitting down at the table to watch Ben push around his lunch before picking up a tiny piece of chicken to nibble on, Maria smiled softly at him when he laughed and clapped his food-covered hands together. "Are we having fun with lunch?" She asked softly, resting her chin on the heel of her hand.

"Yesh," Ben answered back as he reached down to pick up a peach slice, tearing it in two with his fingers and taking a small bite. Hearing the front door opening and closer, he dropped the tore peach slices and squealed when John came around the corner. "Daddy!"

Munch smiled down at him and ruffled his dark hair before turning his attention to Maria. "How are we doing?"

"Fine. Just waiting for him to finish his lunch before nap time. Did you get your errands finished?" Maria asked when he leaned down to kiss the corner of her lips, leaning into the contact.

Slipping into the seat beside her and looking over what Ben had on his plate before stealing a tiny piece of chicken, munch nodded his head and popped the chicken into his mouth. "Got the bills paid, got my check cashed, picked up a few things from the store and have gone a few hours without eating anything at all. Should be a new record." He cracked a smile and Frank laughed, using a toddler spoon to feed Ben his mashed peas.

"I think you just broke that record by just taking a piece of chicken from Ben's plate, however," Maria noted with a tilt of her head. "Once Ben's down for his nap, we need to talk." She brought it up carefully and as gently as possible to not alarm him. When he turned his head in curiosity, she explained it as if something else was going on. "It's just about the plans we're doing for the wedding that need to be sorted out."

"Oh, okay then. We can do that now instead, though." He turned his whole body as he began to move all of his attention toward Maria.

"We could, but it would be better with Ben down for his nap so we can fully concentrate on it," She explained without missing a beat.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Closing the door to Ben's room and heading downstairs to the kitchen, Maria placed her hand on John's shoulder to get his attention. "I-I kinda lied. It's not about our wedding. It's about Ben."

"Is he okay?" Munch's expression showed complete concern and it made Frank mentally smile inside. _At least he still cares for his well-being. _

Walking over to a cupboard and extracting a couple of glasses, she reached for a bottle of wine from on top of the fridge and opened it. "He's more then okay physically, but," She paused for a moment, placing a filled glass in front of John. "You know how Ben gets excited when you come home from the store with some fruit for him or when he gets a chance to go with you?" Munch nodded his head slowly. "Well, that excitement is the same every time he sees you. Ben loves you and wants to be with you, as any child would want to do with a parent. What I'm concerned about is your behavior for the past few months since his accident."

John inhaled a slow and deep breath, as if he knew that was coming. "I don't mean to do it, but it's for his own good," he explained quietly, looking away from Maria and stared at the glass before him.

"'For his own good'? Can you explain that to me?" Maria questioned softly, concern etching it's way through her face.

"I don't want Ben to see me as a source of pain. I'm the one who tossed that ball a little too hard, which caused him to run after it and fall." He began, taking a long sip of wine from the glass. "I don't like turning him away when he would ask to play, but I just didn't want to see him get hurt and cry again. I really don't want him to see me as someone who will cause him pain. I just don't."

Softly sighing and slipping down into a chair, Frank contemplated her thoughts before saying them. "I can understand not wanting to be seen as a source of pain, especially when you two are playing, but falling while playing is all part of growing up. The running he does will help his legs get stronger and he won't fall as much as he is now." She scooted the chair closer until their knees were touching. "Please, just listen to what I have to say, okay?" John slightly nodded his head, not really sure what she was going to say. "I was afraid at first when I would play with Scott and I would avoid his requests to the point he stopped asking. What I had done was causing more harm then good. Our emotional bond was beginning to be severed more and more as the days went by. He didn't look like a healthy toddler anymore and I couldn't stand the notion of me causing a mental and emotional illness on his well-being. I began to really play with him when I realized what I had done and his emotional and mental health began to get better as time went on, but I can't forget what I saw in his eyes."

Munch swallowed heavily and blinked a few times as he listened, fighting back his tears. Lowering his head in defeat and sorrow, he reached a hand out and grasped Maria's firmly. "I-I'm so sorry, Mar. I just...I just don't want to see Ben cry in pain. It scared me that day and I haven't been able to think clearly since it happened."

Wrapping her free arm around his shoulders and pulling him in for a hug, Maria firmly tightened her grasp of him as he began to finally break down in tears. She pressed her face into his neck and whispered, "I know you're trying to protect him from getting hurt, but it's hurting him more by just avoiding it. I-I want Ben to have what Scott didn't - a dad." Munch released her hand and wrapped both arms around her as he collapsed fully against her, crying harder and harder as the second went. "A father is only the sperm donor, but a dad is there for anything and will do everything to protect his children. I know you want to do that for Ben, John. I really do know you want to."

"I-I'm so s-sorry," John whispered as he moved to press his face into her shoulder. "I want t-to make things r-right with him." His fingers dug deep into Maria's back when she pulled him closer to her. "I want to m-make things right w-with you, too."

Pulling away just enough to touch her forehead against his, Frank softly replied with, "Make it up for Ben first, okay? You can make it all up for me later, but he needs to be taken care of first."

He nodded his head against her's and pulled away just enough to lightly brush his lips against her's before claiming them with all he could. Before long, they were both standing with arms wrapped around each other and exploring each other's mouths eagerly. Tears were still slowly running down John's face the more involved they got until they had to get some air. Breaking the kiss first, he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course I can," Maria admitted with a smile, using her fingers to wipe more oncoming tears away and touching his face gently. "Just remember this; when we're done talking about this, it won't be mentioned again unless you want to talk about it some more. It will be a closed case until you want it opened." He furrowed his brows a little as if he didn't understand. "What I mean is, since this is a tough subject for you to even think about, it would be best to not talk or mention it unless you want to. It would be like this conversation never happened, hun."

Inhaling a deep breath and letting out slowly, John let out a small, "Okay," and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you for getting me out of this. It never occurred to me I was causing more harm then good for Ben."

"It's something we learn along the way. I learned it and now you have." She squeezed him in the hug and slowly pulled away once the uncomfortable feeling between them eased up. "How about we get the kitchen cleaned up?"

John shrugged and looked in the direction of where Ben's room was. "I think I'll go up and wait for him to wake up so we can go play. Is that all right for you?"

"Go for it. It's probably going to be a while before he wakes up, but if that's what you want to do, I'm not going to stop you."

Smiling down at her, he turned to pick up the basketball in the living room and headed up the stairs - two steps at a time. Carefully opening the door to Ben's room and peeking in, he could see the sleeping toddler in his convertible toddler bed. His blanket was snugged around him like a cocoon and his arm was wrapped around his stuffed bear Fin had given him for his birthday. Taking a seat in the puffy chair in the corner of his room and reaching for a book on the toddler's dark wooden book shelf, he flipped through the pages and patiently read to himself for the next hour and a half until he heard the sounds of Ben stirring in his bed.

Slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes with both hands, Ben looked around and waited for his eyes to adjust before really noticing John was sitting there with a smile. "Daddy?"

"Hey, sport. How did you sleep?" He rose from the chair, placed the book down and picked up the little boy.

"Good." He placed his hands on Munch's shoulders and looked around. To him, it felt weird having his dad hold him after a nap since he hadn't done it in so long. Scanning the room and seeing the basketball on the carpeted floor, he grinned and exclaimed, "Ball!"

John laughed and placed him down on the floor, watching him run to the orange and black ball. "That's right. Do you want to play ball with Daddy?" Ben turned around with his eyes growing huge with surprise. "I really want to play with you, Ben."

"Play!" The toddler tried to pick up the huge ball in his small hands and dropped it. Instead, he kicked it clumsily and clapped his hands. "Play!"

"All right. Let's go to the basement and go play with the ball." Munch bent down and picked up the toddler and then to ball, holding Ben tighter when he wrapped his arms around his dad's neck. "Love you, Ben."

* * *

As the weeks went by, Maria's anxiety for their up and coming wedding was becoming more and more noticeable and strange. A few days after they received a package from John's mother that turned out to be a sailor type of outfit for Ben, John had tried to stash it away as he would cringe at the idea of the toddler wearing it. One afternoon while he was changing Ben's sleep clothes to normal play clothes, Frank slipped into the room and slipped the sailor shirt on the boy. Placing a finger on her lips to keep him quiet, she slipped out before John turned.

She was still laughing to herself when she heard, "_What the Hell, woman_!" come from Ben's room. Ben was laughing to the point of squealing as John removed the shirt from his body. Grumbling to himself, he stashed it in a drawer and peered around the corner to see her sitting on the floor, laughing. "You are one nutty woman," he muttered as Ben ran out and attempted to tackle her on the floor.

"Good, because if I wasn't, I'd be boring." She placed Ben on her bent knees and, holding his hands, rocked him back and forth on her knees.

"Mommy funny!" He grinned up at John and squealed when he was partially flipped upside down.

"Yes. Mommy funny and daddy not amused," John remarked as he lifted Ben up and carried him down the stairs under his arm.

Narrowing her eyes slightly as she watched him head down the stairs and releasing Ben into the living room, Maria gradually stood up and made her way down. "You know, you seem pretty relaxed about us getting married and all. I would have figured that since I'm going to be your fifth, you'd be nervous beyond hell about us getting hitched."

John shook his head slightly and watched the toddler as he began fishing around for a toy in his toybox. "To be honest, I've never felt more relaxed. I guess it's just...well," he paused for a moment to look up at her. "Everything feels right. It doesn't feel like anything's going to go wrong, you and I are going to be happy together and we have Ben with us." He looked down when he felt something tugging on his shirt. "What's up?"

"Play?" Ben held up one of his puzzle toys with both hands and waited patiently.

He smiled and took the toy in his hand. "Ben will be also teaching us about shapes, too."

"It's never too late to learn about shapes."

**To be continued...**  
**Sorry this took so long. Been wicked busy, started a new job and have been stuck with writer's block like I've never had before. Doing weddings is NOT one of my strong points. LOL! Not only that, but they feel too...eh...too complicated. Still working out how I'm going to do that, so it might be a while.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Oh, when was the last time I had put in adult content? A few chapters ago? Feels like a new record. Oh, well. Let's put some adult content in this one! **

A week later:

Pressing Maria up against the wall and hovering over her, John was finally taking the advantage he had been waiting for with Ben over at a friend's house for a play date. He had just barely closed the door when he had jumped at Frank, who was sorting out laundry. He had been waiting far too long to get the chance for them to have some fun for the passed few weeks. Smiling dangerously at her when he felt her hands graze against his side, he grasped her wrists and pinned them against the living room wall.

Maria knew what he was up to and didn't struggle. Instead, she smirked up at him and playfully wriggled her wrists to feel him grasping them harder. "Like it when I do that?"

"You could say that," he whispered, lowering his head to capture her under a powerful and passionate kiss. Releasing her wrists when he nibbled on her bottom lip, he slipped his hands under her shirt and lifted it up and off as her arms slipped around him. Groaning when he began exploring her mouth more and more, Maria hardly cared when she went ahead and removed his shirt roughly before heading down to his belt. "Hold it."

"What?" Maria was panting from what they just started and couldn't understand why he told her to hold on for a moment. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I really don't want us to do this up against a wall." He looked around to see they were certainly in a rather uncomfortable spot and Maria's back up against a sharp corner. "That corner will leave marks if we do it right here. I _want_ to leave marks, but not that way."

"Where shall we go then?" Resting her hands on his shoulders as he looked around, scanning where they could go. Every possible location looked promising, but he wanted to make love somewhere new in their little home. He frowned slightly and heaved a sigh. "I have an idea."

He turned his head to see her eyes resting on the basement door. "Down there?"

"More like your 'man cave'. Not in Ben's play area - I won't be able to look in that area without laughing - but where you go to hide." Maria could see he was pondering the idea from his expression and it wasn't getting them to their fun any faster. Running her hands down to his chest and pressing her palms against his nipples, she got her point across when John inhaled a sharp breath and his eyes slipped closed. "C'mon. What do you say?"

Opening his eyes slightly and glancing into her eyes, he smirked and led her in the direction of the basement. Once in John's own section of the basement, neither of them took any time to remove all clothing and get down to what they wanted. Gazing deep into Munch's eyes, Maria slipped down to her knees and came face-to-face with his erect self. She licked her lips with excitement and wrapped her mouth around him, earning a soft groan from John.

He could have died and was in heaven for all he knew. It had been a while since he had felt her lips and tongue around him and could already feel himself restraining to hold back a climax. Weaving his fingers through her hair and enjoying the feel of her moving around him, he tossed his head back and moaned when she moved a hand to cup him a little lower. "Holy shit," He whispered with a shuddering breath. Glancing down at Maria and placing a hand on her shoulder to signal her to pull away, Munch ran his fingers through her hair. "You are amazing."

"We haven't even hit the grand finale and you're already saying I'm amazing? Boy, we really haven't done this for a while, then." She chuckled softly and stood back up when she felt his hands go under her arms. The second Maria was back on her feet, she wrapped her arms around him and held him close, enjoying the feel of her flesh against his. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Munch replied back softly, trailing his finger tips down her back and smiled against her neck when he felt her fingers doing the same thing. "Where shall we start?"

Maria's eyes scanned the room and eyed a reclining leather chair in the corner. "How about we break in that leather chair of yours?" Taking his hand and leading in towards the chair, Frank playfully pushed him down into the soft leather chair and pushed the level until it was fully reclined. John couldn't stop himself from shuddering at the idea of what was to come and gripped the armrests firmly under his hands. "Comfy?"

"More then comfortable." He replied, reaching a hand up to slowly run his fingers down from her chest to her lower stomach. "What are you planning?"

Smirking to herself and warmly tracing her fingers down his outreached arm, she waited until he had lowered it to move to rest herself on his waist first. Munch couldn't help but lick his lips nervously as he felt her so close to his aroused self, but she was teasing him for a moment. "What I'm planning is for me to know and for you to find out." Keeping on hand on his chest for balance, Maria reached a hand back slowly and began to caress him some more. Her already rising excitement was raised even higher at the sight of John closing his eyes from the contact and his hands gripping her waist.

The more her hand stroked and caressed him, the louder he was becoming from moaning and gasping. "Please!" Five pleasurable minutes later, John Munch was left pleading when he couldn't take it anymore. "Please, Mar."

"Please, what? What do you want?" Her hand slowed for a moment and her dark brown head tilted to one side as she waited for him to speak some more.

John opened his eyes for a moment and spread his fingers over her breasts. "I want you," he managed to say when her hand pulled away from his erection and placed her hand on his stomach for support. "I want to make love with you." He wrapped his arms and pulled her close to him, pressing his lips to her neck as she reached around to finally settled herself onto him. They shuddered together once they were finally connected and held onto each other tightly.

Groaning and pressing her face into his bare shoulder, Maria bit down on her bottom lip and continued to shudder from the pleasure. It had been so long since she had felt their connection, it felt like a climax was right around the corner. Feeling his hands travel down to her hips, she let out a shuddering sigh when she felt him lift her up slightly and gently push her back down. She knew what he was trying to get across and lifted herself up with her arms. Gripping the the chair under her hands and smiled down at John, they both began a slow and steady pace to make it last as long as possible.

Whispering her name when she lowered herself completely down on him, Munch gently cupped a breast and placed his mouth over it, earning a well wanted gasp. What he didn't expect was the overwhelming pleasure of Maria rotating her hips and impaling herself harder down on him. John gave her a soft growl and - bracing his bare feet on the foot rest - gripped her hips hard and began pounding into her at a hard and fast pace. Maria was left gripping the chair leather and pressing her face into John's sweating neck, listening as his panting became heavier and faster as his speed of thrusting increased little by little. She wasn't going to lie; it did slightly hurt at this speed and position, but it felt _good _and she didn't want it to end. Although she was certain he was bruising her cervix.

Sitting up while still gripping the dark leather under her hands, Frank looked in Munch's face and felt overpowering love for him and the concentration etched in his face. His dark eyes were closed in ecstasy and his mouth hung slightly open from panting. She took her chance while he was distracted and slipped her tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply and passionately. He slowed his thrusting down and wrapped his arms tightly around her, exploring her mouth as much as he could without hurting her. They were both so close to climaxing, they could feel it pulsing through their veins.

John broke the kiss for a moment and traced his tongue from her earlobe down to her waiting right breast. "Ready to climax with me?" He asked softly, running his hands down her back to her backside, allowing his fingers to lightly touch where they were connected. When she sighed her reply, he slipped his mouth over the breast and returned his hands to her hips, gradually picking up speed once more.

Feeling the slight pain as he began pounding into her once more, Maria moved her hands to holding his shoulders and cried out from the overwhelming pleasure that began pulsing through every muscle and vein in her body. John was experiencing the same thing at the same moment and he knew they were due to climax at any second. Holding her still as best he could, he lifted his head to gaze deeply into her eyes and he grinned as they climaxed together; he clenched his jaw and grunted slightly, closing his eyes and tilted his head back as she rested her forehead on his shoulder. He kept her fully seated on him as he continued to pulse in her depths and held his breath until he finally began to float back down from his high.

Inhaling a couple of breaths to steady himself and finally releasing her hips, John sought out her mouth and gently kissed her on the lips. "That was amazing, Mar." He breathed, grinning at her when she went back to resting her head on his shoulder. "My God, that was incredible."

"Yes, it was," she replied, softly smile. "Now if I can just find a way to get off of you without falling over, it would be a miracle." Maria chuckled to herself and traced where her fingers dug into his shoulder with a free hand. "I love you so much."

Slowly lifting her up to extract himself from her, Munch placed his hand over her's and kissed her forehead. "I love you, too."

* * *

The next day...

"So, if we put out the invitations out now, that should give just about everyone time to schedule out when to come." Maria was back to thinking out loud to herself for the third time that day, tapping her pen against her temple. Ben was sitting by her feet and knocking around some plastic kitchen containers while attempting to stack them perfectly together. "Although, I should have put them out last week to make myself more comfortable. What do you think, Ben? Put them out now or beat myself up over not doing it last week?"

He popped his head up from looking inside a dark mixing bowl and stared up at her. His large dark eyes gazed into her's innocently and he began laughing after a moment, banging the bowl on the kitchen floor. "Yeah, that's what I thought." She ruffled his dark hair with her hand and went back to staring at the list once more. "Your father's always so relaxed about it whenever it's brought up, I can't understand why it's not rubbing out on me. What I'm worried about is what we're going to do once we are married. Are we going to take a family trip instead of a honeymoon-like trip or...," She paused, letting the last word drag out as she scratched her chin with the pen cap. "I just don't want to leave you with someone to be watched while we away, having the time of our lives and not including you."

John leaned against the door entrance as he listened to Maria ponder and think out loud. He found it rather welcoming to hear her do it once more with someone at her feet to talk to. Before her dog passed away, she would always talk to him when working on case files or what she was to do later on. After he passed, she had grown silent and he had left him wondering if she wasn't going to do anymore. Ben was just what she needed. "How about we do a family vacation some place quiet where it can just be the three of us and sometime later, have a honeymoon trip." He suggested with a smile. "Would feel better doing it that way. The two of us can still have our fun and Ben will get the enjoy being a new place."

"At his age? He won't be able to remember any of this when he's older."

John shrugged and sat down at the table, placing his hand on the little toddler's head. "Well, we can do it when he's older then when he can explore more then what he can now." His dark eyes met Maria's uncertain ones and he gave her a small smile. "We can make this work for all of us. I know you're uncertain about all of this, but it'll work out in the end."

**To be continued...  
Honest to Betsie (may she rest in peace, by the way), I can't believe it took me this long to do this. Work is taking up 'writing-fics-to-make-me-happy' time. Heh. Annnyway, after talking with a friend about the wedding thing I keep avoiding, I'm going to do a time skip to when they're on their vacation with Ben. I bet a few are disappointed about that, but writing weddings isn't an easy thing for me to do and I can't keep stressing myself over it. Hell, almost did a dog in the wrong clip once. Shiiiit, never a good thing. **


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Two years later:

Three year old Ben sat happily in the sand on a secluded beach in Maine, his parents behind him. With a shovel in hand, he had been digging himself a hole in the wet sand and had a small pile of shells beside him to keep.

Leaning back on her hands, Maria turned her face to the sky and smiled. Having just arrived to Cape Cod the day before, it was very welcoming to be by themselves for a few weeks. They had been married for over a year now and had waited until Ben was older before they had taken their first real family vacation. Beside her, John was sitting up on their towel and watching the toddler happily digging away at the wet sand with a bright green shovel they had bought from the store the day before.

Sitting contently beside him was their latest new family addition. Moose, a tri-colored Cocker Spaniel, was taken in by them when the original owner fell ill and couldn't care for him properly and had been thriving since John had convinced Maria the year old dog needed a home and he wasn't too big or too small for Ben to play with. "You know, we should take Ben in to see your Uncle Andrew. He hasn't seen him since he was an infant." Frank brought up as she straightened out and watched the gentle Cape waves beat against the sand.

"Yeah, I know." John reached down between his bare feet and grabbed a fist full sand, watching it trickle out of his hand slowly. "I wanted him to come to our wedding, but he didn't feel well at all and couldn't leave the facility, even if he wanted to."

"At least we sent him the photos of our wedding and, once we get the photos developed on our vacation, we'll send those to him as well." Maria said, taking a hold of the camera and pointed it in the direction of Ben's back and shooting the waves with Ben's arms in the air when a breeze went by. "Looks like he's having fun digging. Makes me wonder what he's found."

Getting to his feet and walking over to where Ben was sitting, Munch bent down and checked out his treasure pile. "Wow, Ben. Looks like you've been having a lot of fun, huh?"

"Yes! Look what I found!" He held up a crab claw and dunked it into a blue water pail to rise the sand off. "It's a claw. It is the," he paused for a moment and slowly started counted his fingers. "two?"

Munch smiled and looked through the pile to see if there was another claw in the pile. There were shell pieces, sand dollars and seaweed, but no other crab claws. "Close, Ben. You are very close. That would the first claw you found or number one."

"Number one?" He looked down at the claw in his hand and looked over what he had. "One."

"That's right." He got down to his knees and held up each item. "This round shell is a sand dollar and these five here are different types of shells that water creatures live in. In fact, this sand dollar here," he picked up a dark red one from the small pile, "Is a live sand dollar."

Ben took it from John's hand and looked at it. "Daddy, it does not look alive. It's not moving."

"Well, not everything that is alive moves. The trees are alive and they don't move. Same with flowers and grass." John tried his best to explain it to the young child so he could understand.

Ben frowned slightly and took the round creature from his hand. "But daddy, the flowers and grass move. Tree arms move, too."

Maria had walked over during the discussion and sat down beside the boy and explained it more to him. "The wind moves the grass, flowers and the tree arms. The water moves these so a child like you can find them and learn about them. Since this guy is alive, it wouldn't be nice to keep him away from his home, but we can take one of the others you have found and color it so it looks like this one."

"We can? Do we have to put these back as well?" He pointed to the pile of the other colored ones.

She picked up a dark velvet one and felt her thumb along its back. "The ones that feel fuzzy are alive. Think we should let them go back home?"

"Yes!" Ben stated with his chin up and holding the ocean creatures in his hands as if he was protecting them. "They need to go back home." They watched as he stood up and moved quickly to the small rolling waves, placing the fuzzy round animals into the water and giving them a wave goodbye. "Can we play in the water now?"

John smiled and stood up, heading down where Ben stood. "Sure, but you have to wait for me to hold your hand. Moose appeared by their side with a stick in his mouth, ready for someone to throw it for him to fetch. "Moose wants to play in the water, too."

Moose! C'mon, buddy!" Ben ran into the low waves and the dog followed behind his docked tail wagging happily.

* * *

Ben sat on the kitchen counter and ate his lunch after he was bathed from a day at the beach. The cabin they were renting for two weeks was close enough to bring in the ocean breeze with the windows open. Maria was standing at the counter and getting Ben's drink ready in a sippy cup while John was napping in the master bedroom and Moose was sleeping in his dog bed, his stick from the beach beside it. "Want to take a nap when you're done eating?"

The three year old took the yellow sippy cup and took a generous sip. "Can we go to the beach tomorrow?"

"Of course we can." She placed him down the floor and watched him head towards the table with his remaining sandwich and cup. "We can also see if we can find more really cool water animals, too." She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. "You going to promise to nap when you're done?"

Making a face and pouting slightly, Ben groaned and took a small bite from his sandwich. "Do I really have to?"

"Yes, you do. Otherwise, you become a crabby little beast later in the day."

He sighed heavily and chewed slower. "Is that why daddy lies down all the time?"

Maria tilted her head to one side and shrugged. "He doesn't lie down all the time, but he does when he's tired. Playing with you in the water worn him out. He does become a crabby beast if he doesn't get his nap, too." She rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger, knowing she needed to lay down, too. "C'mon, sport. I know you're eating slower on purpose." _John does the same thing!_

Ben narrowed his dark eyes and stared back at her, as if trying to will her into letting him stay up. It failed when she clapped her hands and he blinked, making them both smile. "Can I save it, Mommy?"

"All right. You want me to put it in the baggy or are you going to try to do it yourself?"

The three year old hopped off the chair and hustled to the kitchen as fast as he could. "I wanna try!" He dug into the brown paper bag they brought along and pulled out a sandwich bag. "Hold this." He placed his half eaten sandwich in Maria's hand and attempted to open it with his long fingers. With a determined look on his face that just about matched his father's determined expression, he let out a joyful squeal when it opened and he held it out for her to tuck the sandwich in. "See! I can do it!"

"Yes, you can! Now, are we going to lay down for some quiet time?" She asked with a smile and pointed him in the direction of his room, letting him know to lay quietly on his bed. He was welcome to read a book or do a puzzle, but it was quiet time until he fell asleep for a nap. Once she was sure he was in on his bed and quiet, she opened the door to the master bedroom. John was softly snoring under the covers with an arm draped over his eyes to block out the light. It was true he was tired, but he wasn't young anymore. He stayed fit, but keeping up and playing with Ben did wear him out pretty hard. "John?"

"Hm." He moaned in his sleep and inhaled a deep breath when her fingers brushed against his neck.

Maria laid down on the bed and draped an arm across his chest, watching it rise and fall with his breathing. "Ben's down for the afternoon." He moaned once more and rolled over to press his forehead against her's. "He wants to go to the beach again for dinner."

John chuckled in his sleep and muttered softly, "I'd like for you and I to be alone on the beach with just a towel together."

Grinning and turning her head to kiss him softly, Frank tucked the comforter around them and whispered, "We'll add that to our fantasy list then."

"That's good because I've been thinking of a few things we can do, too," He cracked open an eye and smiled warmly at her. He took a hold of her hand and rubbed his fingers along her ring, admiring how well it fit with her hand. The simple silver ring with small diamonds embedded in the band matched well with the spiral engagement ring. "You'd think something this simple wouldn't be as gorgeous as I believe it is."

Grinning and rolling over until she was hovering over him, Maria dipped her head and touched her nose to his. "I love it the way it is," she whispered and leaned into his hands when he tucked her hair behind her ears, lifting his head to kiss her. "I love the way you are, too."

"Good. I'm one of a kind creation. Brother Bernie doesn't even compare to me."

She chuckled and kissed him again. "Bernie's not as handsome as you are." She felt his fingers curve along the back of her neck and pull her down for a deeper kiss, slipping her tongue into his welcoming mouth. It continued on for a few minutes until Frank pulled away and moved to his neck, feeling him inhale a deep breath and his fingers digging into her sides. "Getting more rest is going to be out of the question, hm?" She whispered softly against his ear and grinned when he groaned.

"You could say that," he whispered back, taking the chance to overpower Maria and pin her down on her back. "Ben's sleeping, right?"

"Out like a light. He knows better then to open a closed door without knocking anyway." Maria shifted her right leg and pressed her knee gently against the growing bulge in John's night scrub pants.

He let out a shudder and shook his head slightly. "You are one evil woman."

"I try hard."

**To be continued...  
Been working my ass off for a very long, long time since I'm in training to be a Dog Groomer and there's a lot of work involved. It's all one-on-one stuff with a Master Groomer who I have grown used to working with well. Going to try and get these out at a decent time, but won't be easy. **


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Several years later -

Ben shifted his eyes from side to side, checking out his competition. He was overpowered by two much taller individuals and knew he was cornered. He had to play his cards right. "Hearts," he sneered, placing his game cards down on the table.

Maria tossed her cards in the air in frustration while John slammed his down. "You said you had a full proofed plan to beat him, John! I swear, I'm not going to take you 'oh, this should work!' plans again." Maria muttered as she crossed her arms and slouched down in her chair. Ten year old Ben had successfully beaten his parents five times that night and he was on a roll.

"Well, I didn't think he would get the Queen card. I was _trying_ to get that one before he did," John explained as he gathered the cards and playfully punched Ben in the arm. "You are one smart and slick bugger, I'll give you that."

Keeping the sneer on his face, Ben pushed his glasses up his nose and stuck his chin out proudly. "Now that I've made my mark on your wallets," he gathered the money they had used in a bet and folded them up neatly. "I'm going to get to bed for school tomorrow." He hopped out of his seat and headed up stairs, Moose following behind him.

"He gets that from you," Maria said with a smirk. "Kid's going to become richer than us before he hits eighteen." She watched as he packed up the cards and placed them back into the box. "Five games and he kicked our asses five times. Those slick card-playing game techniques of yours have rubbed off on him."

John shrugged his shoulders and stashed the box of cards into a table drawer. "Not my fault. He sucked them out of me. I bet he charmed Charlie into doing it for him." Charlie was Ben's year old Sun Conure Parrot and his most loyal companion both Maria and John had bought for him as a present when he turned ten. The bird had been known to hop down the stairs when following Ben and walk smoothly onto their laps and rub his head affectionately against them. He was a charming little bird. "He's been teaching that bird things we don't even know about."

"At least he hasn't taught it to pick our pockets." Maria went around the house and turned off the lights before heading upstairs. "I'm going to tuck him in. Going to be in bed when I'm done?"

"Maybe," He answered with a grin.

Grinning back in return, Maria headed up the stairs and knocked on Ben's bedroom door. "Ready, spike?"

"Yeah!" Ben hoped onto bed and turned on his lamp while his mother opened the door and turned off the main light. "Mommy, I got all of my homework done, too."

"Very good. Math wasn't too hard this time?" When Ben shook his head 'no', she reached her fingers through the bars of Charlie's cage and scratched under his strong beak. The bird clicked his beak gently in return and nudged her hand. "Ready to get tucked in?"

"Just about." Ben lifted his comforter and scooted under. "What if big Bobby Henson picks on me again?" He stared up at her with his dark eyes asking and etched in concern. Since starting fifth grade, a classmate had started picking on Ben about him and his parents. Maria didn't take it lightly when it first came to light and since it was now February, the bullying had become progressively worse since a Parent-Teacher conference and both boys had been brought it to work it out. It had helped for a month until after Christmas when Bobby pushed Ben to the floor and called him names. "He's going to do it again, Mommy."

Sighing sadly, Frank sat down on the bed and tucked the covers around the boy. "I'm at the end of leash about the whole thing, Ben. If he does it again, let us know right away and Daddy and I will work it out. You know we don't take kindly to it, right?" The boy nodded his head and watched her remove his glasses from his face and place them on his side table. "We'll get it straightened out and everything will be fine. I promise it will be okay."

"Okay." Ben sighed heavily and rolled over, hugging a stuffed animal to his chest.

Combing her fingers through his dark hair and firmly rubbing his back, Maria stayed there until she was certain he was fast asleep. Flipping off the lamp and closing the door with Moose beside her, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and slowly made her way back to the main bedroom where John was sitting with a book in his hands. "That took a little longer than usual."

"He'd asked me what to do when his bully starts up again." She laid down on the bed, removed her glasses and rubbed her face. "He's worried about it and he knows I'm at the end of my leash about the whole fucking thing."

"What are you going to do?"

"I was bullied, you were bullied and now he's dealing with it. If it gets worse - and we both know it's going to - I'm pulling him out of the school."

John looked down at her and asked, "And then what? Put him into another one?"

"No, I mean pull him out of it and home school him. He's a smart kid, John, and he learns quickly. He can learn at his own level, at his pace and field trips are going to be far more educational than reading about Holocaust in a textbook. Seeing historical places up close is going to bring a more personal feel to something then just seeing pictures of it in a book." She sat up and leaned against the headboard. "We can do it, John. It's hard enough dealing with the shit he's dealing with now and not being able to concentrate on schoolwork, but with this direction, he can have one-on-one learning. I would like him to be in school and interacting with kids his own age, but when it comes to something that's going to affect his physical health, I say fuck it."

Thinking about it for a few minutes, John turned his silver-haired head and blew out a breath. "Does he know yet?"

"No, not yet. Unless it comes to that, it's on the table and open to ideas and options. If it does come to that, we'll have a family discussion about it and he can choose when shown all of the options." She leaned forward and undid her bra, stretching the muscles in her back. "It's only going to be a matter of time before he comes home with bruises from this Henson boy."

Saving his page and closing his book, Munch watched as Moose made a few circles on the bed before laying down to sleep. "We gotta do what we gotta do. All of this bullying is because of who he is?"

"And because of us. We're not like other parents out there - we're older to the point we're retired. He's a Jewish boy with older parents. Kids are brutal when it comes to things they don't understand and don't want to understand. To this bully, he believes Ben's real parents want nothing to do with him and we're his grandparents who are raising him."

John frowned and made a motion to get up, but a hand grasping his wrist stopped him. "What are you doing?"

"Going to get Ben to tell me where this little fucker lives so I can beat some sense into him!" He snarled and attempted to free himself from Maria's grasp, but she held on tight. "Let me go!"

"No," She sternly said, making her grip tighter. "Please, just sit back down and relax. Ben's finally asleep after he began to worry and I don't want you to wake him for that. It'll freak him out even more."

Exhaling a heavy breath and sitting back down heavily on the bed, Munch took a hold of her hand and squeezed it. "No one hurts my boy-"

I know, honey. I know." She wrapped her other arm around him, pulling him into a hug.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

The next day -

John placed some fresh fruit in a bowl of Charlie's play stand in the living room, watching as the small bird walked over and picked through the bowl for his favorites. Getting very little sleep during the night hadn't helped with his mood, but he kept a good face on when he dropped Ben off at school and wished him a good day.

Laying down on the couch and waiting for eight year old Cocker Spaniel to get comfortable when Moose jumped up to join him, all Munch wanted to do was flip through some channels and fall asleep with something on in the background.

Maria was in the kitchen and finishing loading the dishwasher when the phone rang and it pulled him out of zen moment. "Mar?"

"I'm getting it, hon." He heard her answer the phone and a long silent pause hung in the air until he heard her ask, "What happened?" John sat up and leaned forward to see if he could see her face. When he heard her heavily sigh into the phone, he knew it wasn't good. "Well, fine. We'll be right there."

"What's wrong?"

"Ben got into a fight with the Bobby boy and he's in the principal's office. Shit just got real," She pulled on her shoes and reached for her coat. "Coming?"

John grabbed for his coat and locked Charlie in his living room cage. "How bad?"

"He's bruised up." She answered as she rushed out the door and got into the car with John right behind her. Within ten minutes, they had made it to the school and headed inside to the main office.

Principal Gregg open the door to his office and showed them Ben's black and blue right eye and a cut lower lip. When he raised his head and saw the serious expression on Maria's face, his face went pale. "Mom..."

"Ben was caught on top of Bobby Henson and was brutally beating him in the face. I'm looking to get him expelled-"

Maria raised her hand and the principal stopped. "We've had this discussion before about Bobby Henson. We've talked with his parents about the bullying, we've talked with you, we've talked with the teachers, the school district, Ben's talked with you and now this? You didn't do anything with the other times this has come up, but when Ben's beating up the bully, that's frowned upon?"

Principal Gregg frowned and leaned against his desk. "Mrs. Munch, Ben's been becoming more aggressive as the year goes by to the point it's interfering with other children's learning."

"It's interfering because nothing's being done about it, no matter how many times it's brought up." John started as he placed a hand on Ben's shaking shoulder. The boy was terrified about what was going on and was shaking from fear. "When my boy's defending himself against someone who's been causing emotional harm, I consider that justifiable."

"John, will you take Ben to the car, please?" Maria asked, glancing at Ben and giving him a small smile to ease his fears.

Ben stood up and heaved his backpack over one shoulder as John steered him out the door. Once they reached the parking lot, Ben muttered, "Mom's going to kill me."

"No, she's not. She's not pissed at you, she's more pissed at the school and how they're treating this situation." Munch unlocked the car and Ben tossed his backpack into the backseat before sitting in the front passenger seat. "She has a plan, but it's all up to you."

"What is it?" The young Munch looked up at his dad with a hopeful expression. The black and blue eye didn't affect his innocent look.

He rubbed his hands together and smiled. "You're going to have to wait until she says it." He reached over and checked over Ben's face. "Please tell me these are the only bruises on your body."

He shook his head and John's shoulders dropped. "No, they're not, but you should see the other guy." The small boy gave a crooked smile and John ruffled his dark hair. They sat in silence for a moment and enjoyed each others company. "She's still going to kill me," the small boy brought up again, more silently this time.

"Well," John started, "you can go ahead and believe she's going to kill you or you can believe she's killing that principal of yours."

"She can do that?" A quizzical look on his young features

"You'd be surprised what she can do. She is your mother after all." John raised one eyebrow when Ben blew out a breath and nodded in agreement. "Speak of the devil, here she comes now." Maria walked over the car with a pleased look on her face, motioned for Ben to scoot into the back seat and took a seat in the front. "Well, either you did a damn good job washing your hands or the guy's still standing."

Chuckling, she turned in her seat to speak to Ben and asked, "How about we go out for some ice cream and order for pizza for dinner?"

"I'm game!" The youngster raised his arm up high with a grin. "Wait, what's all this about?"

Maria placed her hand on his knee and reassured him. "Don't worry about it. We'll talk about that tonight." She gave him a wink and he grinned back.

* * *

Ben Munch settled down on his chair and stared at his mother. "So, what's this plan you have, mom?"

"The plan is all up to you, first off." She started, giving him a stern look to know she was serious. "Second, the plan does involve a huge change. Ready for it?" When he nodded, both Maria and John shared a look for a second. "Okay, here we go - because the school isn't doing shit about the bullying situation and it's escalating to the point you are being harmed, Daddy and I talked it over and we think you should be home schooled."

"Oh," Ben managed to say at a whisper, his shoulders slacking. "Meaning, I'll be educated here and not in a school?"

His parents nodded and John mentioned, "We're trying to find a way to help you with what's been going and no one else seems to want to help." When Ben lowered his eyes and began to pick at his nails nervously, Munch placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "I know this is a huge change for you and it requires a lot of thinking, but it's all up to you."

"What would happen if I am home schooled?" He asked softly, his voice almost shaking with emotion.

Frank scooted her chair closer to Ben and answered, "You will be taught at your level and at your own pace, instead of having to keep up with the teachers or waiting for the classmates to catch up. It will all be one-on-one learning." She placed a hand on his knee and gave him a small smile. "It will be okay if you're still uncertain. You don't need to make up your mind right now."

Sniffling and feeling his chin beginning to tremble, Ben pushed away their hands and stood up slowly. "I-I don't know what to do." His voice began to break more and tears started to fall. "I want to go upstairs now."

John nodded for him to go ahead and Ben sprinted off and ran up the stairs. "Shit," He muttered bitterly. "I didn't mean for him to start crying." He pounded his fist on the table and heavily sighed when he heard Ben slam his door shut. "Shit."

"Give him an hour and if he doesn't come down, one of us will go up and check on him." Maria reassured softly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "It's a huge change and step for him and it's not going to be easy."

"I'll go up if he doesn't come down. I want to check him over and see the other bruises he got in the fight." He noticed Maria's stiffened expression and raised a hand. "He told me he had more bruises than what we could see and that Bobby Henson's in worse shape. I just want to check them." When she finally relaxed a little and slipped lower in her seat, Munch decided to ask, "What did you do or say to the principal? You looked awfully satisfied when you came out."

Frank shrugged and a small, sly smile pulled at her lips. "I told him that if he were to expel Ben, I would alert the school's Jewish families about his antisemitic ways and how he reacted to this entire situation that could have been ended months ago."

Shaking his head slowly, he asked, "How did you know?"

"Easy. Huang did a little digging for me when I was talking to him about Ben's situation and he came up with that. Apparently, he became a principal through making illegal deals with some old pals of his - who are in prison for committing hate crimes. He hasn't done anything that would be considered a hate crime, but give him time." Getting up to grab a beer from the fridge and the phone book, Frank sat back down and flipped through the pages. "He begged me to reconsider it and I told him we'll know within a few weeks time of Ben's decision to home school and he swore not to expel him."

"You are one evil woman," John admired as he began to chuckle. "You're blackmailing him, you know."

"I know and frankly, I don't care," She replied with a smile. "If Ben decides to be home schooled, I'll drop it all." She dialed in the number for the pizza place and finished with, "I'm protecting him." before the pizza place answered the phone.

They sat in silence for a long time and listened to any sounds that came from upstairs. Every now and then, John would catch the sound of Charlie's playful squawks and wonder if either he was playing with the bird or if the bird was trying to get his attention. "If he's not down here by the time dinner arrives, I'm heading up."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Softly knocking on Ben's door, John slowly opened it and peered in to see Ben laying face down on his bed. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," came the muffled sound from the blankets. He didn't move when the door was shut and the bed dipped under John's weight when he sat down. "What do you want?"

"I brought you some dinner." In John's hand was a plate of two slices or plain cheese pizza - Ben's favorite. "I would like to talk too, if you're up to it."

Exhaling a heavy sigh and slowly sitting up, the youngster leaned against the headboard and took the plate. "Thanks." He took a few bites and allowed it to settle in his grumbling stomach before saying anything. "I don't know what to do, dad."

"This is a huge change and I know it hurts hearing what mom and I said." John started softly, not really sure what he could say to make it better. "We're trying to think what can be a good for you when no one else is. To be honest, this is for your own safety."

Ben looked up into John's face and muttered, "Like what happened today?"

"It could get worse than what had happened."

Sticking his tongue out and touching his cut lip with it, Ben looked at his bruised knuckles and sighed. "What about my friends and the basketball team? We're only three weeks away from playing against Brooklyn's elementary school basketball team. I've been looking forward to that game for a month now. I don't want to miss that."

"You might not have to if we plan it correctly." Munch placed a reassuring hand on Ben's dark haired head and smiled. "It's not like this is going to be tomorrow and we don't expect you to give an answer until you are absolutely certain." The young Munch nodded his head and took a few more bites from his slice of pizza, finishing it off. "I just want you safe, Ben. I love you and don't want to see any harm come to you."

He started on the second slice of pizza and swallowed to hide his tears. "I'm going to miss my friends, though."

"You can always see them when school's done at the end of the day and on the weekends. Hell, Jason's on the community center's basketball team and I'm sure they have an opening. You can still hang out with him there if you two can't meet up in the evenings." John's shoulders relaxed when his son nodded once more and a small smile broke through his tears. "What do you think?"

"Okay. I think I can do that." He lifted his shirt sleeve and scratched at an abrasion on his upper arm. "Bobby got really rough with me today. This has been itching every now and then."

John carefully took a hold of his arm and inspected the abrasion. "Looks like you were pushed or scrapped against something." He looked at it a little closer and noticed it wasn't a scrapped abrasion. "Actually, it looks like finger nail scratches. Did he scratch you?"

He nodded and answered, "He did when I was punching him. That started after he called me a kike, tripped me and tried to push me into an open locker."

Inhaling and exhaling a slow breath to steady himself, John gently asked, "Can I see where else he hurt you?"

Placing the plate down on the bed and pulling his shirt off, Ben showed his father various bruises along his torso and turned around to show a bruise almost in the shape of a possible shoe on his back. "Is that one visible back there?"

"It sure is," Munch sighed out with bitterness in his one, his fingers tracing it almost. "When did this one happen?"

"Right after I kicked Bobby back from pushing me into the locker." He turned around and pointed to the ones on his chest and stomach. "These happened when they had shoved me to the floor and I kicked a few of them back before I tripped Bobby."

Munch nodded and was silent for a moment. "What did they do then?"

"Nothing. I don't think they expected me to get on top of Bobby and hit him back. They were more stunned than anything and started to scatter when the principal came running up. Bobby is still in worse shape though." He grinned behind his one black eye and said, "Both eyes are black and blue, broken nose, I think I cracked a tooth and can't remember what else I did."

"You cracked a tooth?" John was astonished at the strength this lanky and tall ten-year old was capable of. "Oh, Jesus...," He leaned forward on his knees and covered his mouth with both hands. "Oh, Ben. When you said you had done more damage to the boy than what's on you, I didn't think you were capable of doing that."

Ben's smile disappeared and he lowered his head. "I'm sorry I disappointed you, dad. I didn't mean it. I...I just," he tried to say a few words and gave up, his chin starting to tremble. "I-I'm sorry."

John wasn't angry at him for defending himself, but the amount of strength the boy had astonished him. He gathered his thoughts back together and pulled the boy into his arms. "No. No. I'm not mad at you, Ben. I wouldn't be mad at you for defending yourself. It's just the power you have in these flimsy arms of yours," he took a hold of Ben's wrist and shook his arm gently, making the ten year old laugh. "It's astonishing to say the least. I mean, look at this," he playfully pinched the muscle and skin on Ben's upper arm, "It's all baby fat and flimsy like this whole arm." He continued to playfully pinch the arm as Ben wiggled happily and began to squeal with glee when John's fingers neared his armpit.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Ben's shrieked happily when he attempted to roll away from his father's hands and ended up being pinned down on the bed, kicking out his legs when John began to tickle him. "Uncle!"

Releasing his hold on the boy and sitting up, Munch smiled down at him as Ben's wiped the tears from his eyes and slowly sat up. "Okay? You can talk to us and you know that, right?"

"Yeah," He reached for his plate of pizza and took another few bites. "Can I think about the homeschooling thing for a while?"

"Of course you can." He reached a hand out and allowed Charlie the Conure to nibble on his fingers. "Don't think that just because we're your parents, we're going to make you do this. If you don't want to, then we won't."

The boy nodded his head and finished off the first slice of pizza. "What if I start getting picked on again?"

"Then, we'll have to make a drastic move."

Ben thought it over for a moment. It was a big change for him and he wanted to make the best choice. "Give me a week then?"

"We can do that."

**To be continued...**


	32. Chapter 32

**Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

"It's been four days and he hasn't said any bully has been going on?" John asked as he observed Ben toss a basketball into the driveway hoop. "Has he stated what his decision is yet?"

Maria shook her head and went back to breaking up the beef in the pan. "No and no. Either he can't decide or he can't quite accept that something's going on." She placed the lid on the pan and washed her hands. "I've tried asking him without asking him outright, but he sees through it."

Exhaling a slow breath and feeling her hands sliding up his back, Munch glanced sideways and saw her fingers reaching his shoulders. "Well, we'll see what tomorrow brings and hope he says something."

Taking note of John's reaction to her touch, she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and squeezed his shoulders. Not only were they dealing with Ben's school situation, but they were also hitting a mild wall in their relationship. Her touch normally caused him to relax and she didn't get that. He tensed up under her hands and she didn't like it. "How about you say something about us, then?"

"Why? There's nothing wrong between us." He didn't make a move to face her and spoke in a flat tone. When her hands didn't move, he slowly turned to face her and forced a smile. "There's nothing wrong with us, honey. I'm not sure what you're trying to say."

"You're tense under my hands, you're not acting your usual self when I show my affection and you turn away from me at night." She calmly pointed out and watched his eyes shift uncomfortably. "What's the matter? Are you not feeling well?"

John stiffly leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, not bothering to uncross his arms. When he straightened up, both of them could tell something was up but they couldn't place their fingers on it. It could have been John's blank behavior or Maria's suspicious questions, but they couldn't stop wondering what it was. Without saying anything, Munch stuck his head outside and called Ben in for dinner while reaching for Moose's bag of dog food.

She felt hurt, but shook it off to finish dinner.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Ben Munch sat on the front lawn with his basketball in hand and Moose at his side. One last fight at school had forced him to make his decision about homeschooling and his bruised face and scabbed knuckles showed it. It had been a week since he had been pulled from school and he was getting the hang of being taught at home.

Moose perked his long ears and turned his head in the direction of home. It wasn't homeschooling that causing Ben to feel bummed, it was how his parents were being. Turning his head slightly, he could hear the faint sounds of them arguing and he gripped his ball until his bruised and scabbed knuckles were white. "They're going to break up, aren't they?" He asked to himself, fearing the worst fear any child his age had. "They're going to break up and that's it."

Inside the house, Maria was leaning against a door frame with John being ten feet from her, his arms firmly crossed. "You're being a complete _dick_ about this. Ben needs us even more with this huge change and here you are sulking like you're the one with the huge change!"

"I'm being the dick? You're the one who wanted him home in the first _place_!" John uncrossed his arms and pointed a finger at her. "Bringing up your school shit just to use that as an excuse to keep him home!"

"Oh, I'm the _one_ with the school shit? You're the one who was known as the 'Pencil' and was picked on from everyone to the dying janitor to the retarded fucks." She waved her hand in his direction and knocked his pointing finger away from her. "Jesus, don't you remember that we sat down with him _two_ weeks ago and said it was up to him to decide what to do. One huge fight later and he was pulled...by _us. _Do the bruises on his face prove anything to you? Our son needed our help then and he needs help now! Oh, and about that kiss a week ago-"

John threw up his hands and groaned. "Of course you're going to bring that up. You women don't know when to just drop anything."

"'You women'? What the fuck is that suppose to mean? You're the one who's been acting stiffly every single fucking time I want to show you a lick of affection or to show how much I fucking love you. Keep it up and you might as well name your right hand after me to get close to _this._" She motioned to herself and John had it.

"You know, fuck it. Fuck you for all I fucking care. When did this come down to sex?"

"It always comes down to sex when it gets this far. Know the last time we touched each other?" She waited for him to respond and he looked away. "It's been a month, John. Sex is important to us - especially to you." Her eyebrows creased in worry. "I don't understand why you're acting the way you are when I'm trying to show you my affection and when we pulled Ben from school, you turned it around to make it look like I did this. What is your problem?"

Frowning while fighting back his emotions, Munch couldn't find a way to describe it to her. He had lost his gusto when it came to them being together and he didn't understand why. "I'm going out for some air," was all he muttered before grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

Ben looked up at the sound of the door opening and watched his father head towards his dark car. "Dad?" He stumbled to his feet and tried to keep up with his long strides. "Dad!"

"Stay here with your mother, Ben!" John didn't even turn to face the boy as he climbed into his car and headed down the road.

Turning to see Maria standing in the doorway of the house, Ben sprinted over and asked, "What's wrong with dad?"

"I'm not sure, Ben. I'm honestly not sure."

"Is he going to come back?" He looked in the direction his car had gone and hoped he was going to see the dark car coming towards them from around the corner. His young heart felt a pang of guilt and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I want him to come back."

Running her fingers through his hair and hugging him close, Frank inhaled slowly and answered his question. "He'll be back. He just needs to clear his head."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

The afternoon came and went and John Munch still hadn't returned. With Scott watching the front windows with Charlie on his shoulder and Moose by his side, Maria made several phones calls - one to John's cell phone and another to Cragen. "No, he didn't answer his phone. Either he turned it off or he's ignoring it, I can't tell."

_"When did he leave?"_

"Right before noon. He said he was getting some air, grabbed his keys and left. Ben tried to follow him, but John told him to stay with me without looking at him. He's never done that to Ben. He's always turned around to face him and get down to his level when John's going somewhere. I'm not worried that he'll do something to hurt himself, I'm just worried he's going to do something stupid." She opened the freezer and pulled out a frozen pizza. It was going to have to do for dinner. "Ben hasn't left the front windows, either. Poor kid's out of his mind without even knowing it."

Don sighed on the other end and leaned back in his chair with a groan. _"I'll keep my eyes peeled in case I hear anything. Keep me up to speed, right?"_

"I will." Hanging up the phone and tossing the pizza into the oven, Maria glanced towards the front windows and sadly smiled. Telling Don she knew John wasn't going to do anything to hurt himself was the truth. He wasn't going to because of what his father did to him, but Munch had been known to do stupid things when they had arguments and he would turn up crawling back to her. He could have been anywhere at this point, but he wasn't going to leave the city. Frank didn't care if he was wasting his money at a strip joint and was getting a lap dance, she just wanted him to come home to her and Ben.

"Mamma," Ben asked in a small voice, staring out into the streets. "Is he going to come home?"

She sighed and opened the oven to check dinner. "He will. It's just going to take time."

"How do you know for sure?" He turned to look at her and showed her his dark pleading eyes - eyes John had used on her many times.

_Because he and I promised each other. _"Because I know he's not going to leave him boy behind." She flashed a smile and his features relaxed. "Dad had a tough childhood right about the same age as you are and his dad is no longer in the picture. You are very important to him and he will do anything to protect us because we're his family. We had a small fight and he left to cool down - he's done that before many times, even before you were born."

"Is it because...because I'm being home schooled? Is it because of the fights at school?" The younger Munch questioned and his features changed to a terrified child. "A-are you and dad getting a divorce?"

"No no," she whispered, wrapping her arms firmly around his shaking shoulders. "No, honey." The word alone caused her heart to jump and it killed her thinking about it. "We're not getting a divorce."

"Is it because of school? Did I do it?" He muffled out small questions as he hugged her back, never removing his eyes from the front window.

She looked down and saw the tears streaming down his face. "Why would you think that, Ben?"

The boy said nothing as he pulled away and headed into the kitchen for dinner.

* * *

2:10 A.M

There was still no sign of John and Maria was almost at her breaking point of wondering where he was. Ben had eaten, bathed and gone to bed without making a sound - like he had given up.

Sprawled out on the couch with the phone and remote in hand, Frank had fallen asleep while channel surfing and didn't hear the taxi pulling up. A few moments after it pulled away from the curb, the doorknob started to jiggle followed by the sound of a key scrapping for the door lock. The door slowly opened and an intoxicated John stumbled through the doorway and attempted to shut the door as quietly as possible. He leaned against the doorway for a moment to steady himself and noticed the television was on.

Straightening up as best as he could and peering over the couch, he saw Maria fast asleep. Blowing out a slow breath and taking a seat in a chair, he was gradually remember _why_ he had disappeared and got drunk in the first place. It had nothing to do with Ben being home schooled or anything regarding Ben for that matter. It was them he was worried about and he wanted to forget the mental pain he was feeling.

Every time she had reached out to him and showed affection, he pulled away. He'd feel the urge to tuck a dark strand behind her ear and would hold back, his mind telling him it wasn't worth it. For some reason, he wasn't physically, emotionally, mentally or even sexually attracted to her anymore and it killed him when he realized it as he was sitting there.

His breath smelled heavily of booze, the first few buttons of his shirt were undone, his eyes were red and his face was flushed. He did all of that to forget his small problem that was suddenly turning into a big one. He was certainly feeling like the biggest moron at the moment and leaned back in the chair while mentally apologizing to Maria and Ben.

"John?"

He raised his eyes to see Frank was awake and staring at him with a questionable look on her face. There was no doubt in his mind that the stench of the booze around him had woken her and he gave a tight smile. "Hey," was all he could muster without his words slurring.

Maria sat up and turned on a lamp, watching him flinch in the light even with his dark transitions on. "Where have you been?"

Munch knew she wasn't going to be amused once she got wind of how drunk he was, he shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "Out."

"I can see that," She replied back, taking note of his appearance. She knew he had been drinking, but she wasn't sure of how much. "Where, exactly?"

He shifted in the chair and wished he had just crawled upstairs into bed, but he wouldn't have made it without stumbling and waking everyone. "Why?" When she frowned and pressed her lips tightly together, he finally gave a straight answer. "I was out with Fin and we drank." He tried his best to cover up the slurring, but she frowned even more. "I only had a few drinks."

"Bullshit," she quietly snapped. Standing and placing her hands on both armrests, Maria trapped him in the chair and she leaned in until their noses were almost touching. "Liar. You reek of booze and," She removed his glasses to reveal his eyes. "Your eyes are red and your skin is flushed. Congratulations, John. Hope you enjoy explaining to our son of your appearance in the morning."

Ben had never seen John intoxicated before and it certainly wasn't the way he should see him after he walked out earlier in the day. "I'll get myself cleaned up in the morning."

"Hell you're not. I've seen you hung over in the morning, pal. You can never get yourself straightened out without causing some grief to the pain killers." She tossed his glasses to the couch and turned the television off. "If you want to go ahead and ruin the life we've worked hard to get just because we had a tiff, be my guest. You know where the extra pillows and blankets are located." Maria turned on her heel and headed up stairs without looking back, thoroughly pissed at him. _Getting drunk and coming home like this isn't the way to go._

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

An hour later and after much thinking, John pitifully headed up the stairs and used the wall to keep his balance while trying to find the master bedroom's door. He had managed to go through several glasses of water to clear his head and hoped he wouldn't be too hung over in the morning. Reaching the bed, he felt around in the dark until his hands came in contact with Maria's back and he moved a hand up until he reached her shoulder. "Mar?" He gave it a squeeze and heard her groan in her sleep. "Honey?"

"Thought you were going to stay downstairs," she muttered hoarsely, a sign she had been crying. She didn't roll over to face him once he removed his hand from her shoulder, but she felt the bed dip under his weight as he sat down. "Think a little make up sex is going to fix it?"

He shook his head and removed his shirt. "No, that's not why I came up." He reached behind his head and removed his undershirt. "I...I want to apologize for what I did and said earlier today."

"It's not normal of you being like this." She still didn't roll over to look at him. "Did drinking your brains out clear your mind to think of what it is?"

He swallowed heavily and bit down on his bottom lip for a minute. "Yeah, and it's what I didn't want to believe."

"What is it?" Her voice sounded genuinely concerned.

He stood and undid his belt, removing his slacks. "I don't know if it's me or something else but, I can't seem to get myself to be attracted," He paused and inhaled slowly. "Maybe if we try something else, I guess-"

She sighed heavily and rolled over, knowing he was dancing around it instead of cutting to the chase. "Just say it, John."

"I can't seem to get myself to be attracted to you anymore," He finally blunted out. "I guess we need to do something to rekindle our relationship or-"

"There's going to be no 'or'." Frank pointed out. "If that's the conclusion you came to, then we'll work on it, but you have a hell of a lot of explaining to do to our boy in the morning."

He shifted uncertainly on the bed and looked in the direction she was. "How worried was he?"

"He thinks it's about us pulling him from school to home school him and we're going to get a divorce. Now we promised each other - especially me - that we wouldn't do that because we can work things out. If it's because you're not attracted to me anymore and it's causing a huge amount of stress on you, we can fix that." She reached a hand out and came in contact with his bare shoulder, admiring how it relaxed under her touch. "It hurts me to know that I don't attract you anymore, though," her voice began to break up and she exhaled slowly.

Turning to face her and pulling her against him, Munch sought out her mouth and kissed her. "We can fix this, though." He pressed his forehead against hers and cupped her face with both hands. "I love you. I honestly and deeply still love you, Mar. If this is the case, we can do this together."

She chuckled through her tears and hugged him. "Maybe we can take a vacation with someone watching Ben and rekindle it. See if it's really this that's making it hard."

"It's worth a shot."

* * *

By morning, Ben was eying John cautiously and with concern. It was true, Ben had never seen John hungover or even drink heavily. "Are you okay, dad?"

John was slowly downing a mug of coffee and hoped his headache would ease up. "I'll be fine, sport." He glanced in the boy's direction and cracked a small smile. "I'm sorry for my state and for concerning you yesterday."

"Where did you go?"

He thought for a moment and glanced up at Maria. They shared a look for a minute and he understood. "To tell the truth, I went to a bar with Fin and we got drunk. Me more than him, but we both got pretty drunk."

"Why?"

"Because I was trying to think something over and I wanted to forget it at the same time." He stared down at his mug and swallowed. He wasn't sure if Ben understood what he was trying to say. "It was stupid, to be honest. It wasn't a smart thing for me to do. I left you both alone without saying where I was going and I didn't come home until after two this morning."

The young Munch shifted his eggs on his plate with his fork and thought it over. "It was a stupid move?"

"It was. It's something I rarely do and I certainly don't want to do it in front of you because it's not who I am." Munch glanced up at Maria again and she gave him a small smile. "It's something I won't do again without telling either of you where I went."

Ben seemed satisfied after a few minutes and finished his eggs and toast quickly. "Going to help me with my math homework later?"

"Give him some time, Ben," Maria started before John could say anything. His head was starting to pound hard again and he closed his eyes with a soft groan. "Let him get better first, okay?" The ten year old nodded his head and she scooted him upstairs. "Go get your books and we'll start with social studies."

John Munch finished off his coffee slowly and rested his head on his arms. "That went better than I thought it would have."

She sighed and placed the dishes in the sink. "Just keep telling him the truth, John. That's all you can do at this point." Turning and seeing him still resting his head, Frank walked over and ran her fingers slowly through his hair. "Why don't you go lie down?"

"Are you going to scold me some more over what I believe might be the problem?" He lifted his head and leaned back until he was leaning against her stomach. He felt one hand cup him under the chin while the other continued to comb through his ruffled hair. "I figured by now you'd be giving me the cold shoulder."

"If you really believed what the problem is," she lifted his chin until he was looking straight up at her, "You wouldn't be here. You'd be off fucking a pro for all I know, trying to find what arouses you. We'll take care of it, all right?"

"Okay."

Maria pressed her lips to his forehead and her hands slipped away. "Go take a shower and get some rest. When Ben and I are done with his social studies, I'll bring up some more water."

**To be continued...**


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content.  
**

A month later -

"Now, you can use a calculator, but I want to see your work on these problems." John pointed out to ten math problems he had for Ben at the kitchen table as they went over his math lesson. He reached for a calculator and placed it in front of the boy. "Only use this in case you're stuck and you can't get the right answer, but show your work."

Ben nodded and looked at the math book he had in front of him. "How long will I have?"

"As long as you need. Okay?" The ten year old nodded his head and went to work, not noticing John leaving the kitchen. He headed out to the backyard where Maria was tossing a ball for Moose to catch. Placing his hand on her lower back to get her attention, Munch gave her a small smile and greeted Moose with a few ear rubs. "Got Ben to work on his math."

"Good. Going over a few things he was having a problem with seems to have helped?"

He nodded his head slowly. "Yes, we did." John slipped his hands into his pockets and contemplated his next words. "What are we going to do about us? Our problem?"

Maria sighed softly and gave the tennis ball a good toss. "John, I wouldn't consider it a problem. It's more of uh...uh," she stumbled a few times, struggling to come up with the right words. "Well, it's a bump. Like a huge bump in the road we can't get over."

"Okay. So what are we going to do about this bump in our road then?" John kept his tone level, knowing that if he raised his tone, she was probably going to get flustered. It seems to have become a common thing since their argument a month ago.

She leaned down to take the ball from Moose and threw it again, watching the tri-colored Cocker Spaniel take off after it. "I have a plan. Ben has a field trip at the interactive museum in a week. He'll be in a group with other kids his age and it'll be supervised by various people who I did checks on-"

"You background checked them?"

"I wanted to and with the people I know, I might as well use to my advantage." She explained, her expression showing rather shock to John questioning her movements. "I figured that since we're not going to be home and we're all going to be spending a few nights at an inn, we can find a way to renew our stiff affection."

"'Stiff affection'?" He raised a silver brow and she frowned at him.

"If that doesn't work for you, how about rigid? Ragged? Torn?" She snarled up at him and whispered, "Destroyed?"

Munch rolled his eyes and blew out a breath. "Fine. Stiff it is."

Grinding her teeth, Frank knelt down and ruffed Moose's neck, watching his docked tail wag back and forth. "Good. I wouldn't want to use destroyed because I know it's not. We can do this, John, but we have to be willing to do this even if we have to go as far as making one touch the other's genitals." He snorted loudly and she glanced up at him. "I am serious."

"I know you are." He muttered softly. "I want to touch you in an affectionate way, but I just...," he paused, unable to finish.

She rose and placed a hand on his pocketed wrist, feeling the pulse lightly against her fingers. "You don't need to finish because I know. That's why we're going to be alone while Ben's at the museum. Away from home, away from the dog, the boy, and life in general. The museum class is four hours long with breaks in between and Ben will be fine. If he wasn't, I wouldn't leave him there."

"And then what?"

"Then we'll work slowly. Maybe have some wine, some easy food... Something to get us into the mood." Her eyes locked with his dark ones and she could see pain he had been living with. "We can do this. If this doesn't work, we'll try something else."

Looking straight ahead at the trees and inhaling the cool breeze, John moved over to stand closer to her and leaned over, pressing his lips to her cheek. He lingered a little longer than what he was normally doing over the past few weeks and pulled away just enough to whisper against her ear, "I love you."

"I love you, too." She slightly turned her head and closed her eyes at the contact they had, amazed by how well he was doing. John was trying to renew his love and affection towards her, even with the small tiffs they had. "We can do this, John. _You_ can do this."

"I'm trying, Mar. I'm really trying." He shifted uncomfortably, but he stayed close to her. "I want to make love with you, I really do." His throat felt tight and he released a long sigh to steady himself. "I don't understand what happened to the spark I had for you."

"It's still there. We just need to relight it." Maria reminded him softly. Making sure Ben wasn't able to hear them by sliding the door shut, Frank looked at the ground and put herself out there. "If need be, I'll go down on you if you think that will help. Try some different moves or something."

Munch was slightly taken aback by her offer and he cracked a small smile. "We can save that until next week while Ben's at the museum class." He glanced over to see her face growing red and return the same smile. "You seem rather shy from suggesting it."

"I've never had to do it for you since you normally ask me to or we just go ahead with it without questions." She shrugged it off. "That's all."

Without words, John took a hold of her hand and gave it a firm squeeze before heading back inside to check on Ben.

* * *

The next week: Middletown, New York.

Maria slipped her cellphone into Ben's pocket and double checked his backpack on his back. "Now be nice to the other kids, killer. Call us when you're done and we'll come get you. Snacks are in the first pocket of your backpack, along with your bottle of water."

"Okay, mom." Ben had heard it several times as they drove up from Queens to Middletown, after checking in at the Inn and on the ride over. "I'll be okay."

She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "I know, Ben." She waved to him as he sprinted off to join the other kids and adult supervisors where they were gathering before heading in.

Stopping off at a store to pick up a few things before heading back to the Inn where John was settling in. Opening the door, she placed a bottle of wine in the freezer to chill and gently placed a bag of ordered food on the table. "John?"

Munch was in the bathroom and staring at himself in the window, trying to convince himself they can work through it. "I'm right here."

"You okay?"

"I will be once we get the rocks rolling." He warmly smiled at her and she quickly noticed it wasn't forced. "Ben all set?"

Maria reached into a suitcase for two wine glasses and placed them next to the bag of food. "He was ready to go before I was. I pick up some spaghetti in case we get hungry." A hand running slowly up her back caused her to go still, waiting see what he'd do. She didn't want to turn suddenly in case it caused John to falter.

Slowly running his other hand up her back when the first reached her shoulder, John took a few steps closer and gradually inhaled the scent from her hair. "I love you," he whispered softly and he took another step closer until his body was against her back. "I'm trying."

"I know you are and you're doing just fine." She reassured him, closing her eyes when he hands traveled down her sides and his fingers skimmed under the hem of her shirt. "Just relax and follow what you want."

Humming in response to her words, he nuzzled her neck and reached under her shirt to feel her warmth under his hands. "Can we go at my pace?"

"Of course." Maria turned her head slightly and softly smiled when his nose came into contact with hers. "You're hands feel wonderful."

He grinned and turned her to face him, smoothly removing her shirt in the process. "This is going easier than I thought," he sheepishly admitted as her fingers worked on the buttons of his shirt.

Parting his shirt slightly and pressing her lips to his exposed neck and chest, Frank focused on his breathing and could tell it was certainly going a lot easier than he figured it was going to be. "It'll be fine. Don't think about it and just let nature take its course."

"Okay." The soft breeze of his breath when he whispered that one word sent shivers down Maria's back as John leaned in and very softly grazed his lips against hers a few times before taking her deeply and passionately. His hands cupping her head as her hands gripped his sides, slow was slipping out the window as John pushed her up against the wall. Hands were everywhere as they attempted to remove clothes quickly so they would be able to feel each others bare flesh. Glasses have been placed safely on the table.

Locking his eyes with her green ones, Munch kissed her chest, breasts and stomach as he slowly lowered himself down to the floor. Playfully biting the skin belong her navel, he felt her arch slightly against his hands and he secretly smiled. "Like that?"

"Extremely so," Maria happily replied, glad to see he was opening up and showing the affection he hadn't been able to show in a long time. Her eyes scanned down to see he was also becoming excited physically and she slipped down to the floor at his level. "I see you're also liking this as well." She placed a hand on his chest and eased him back until he was flat against the carpeted floor, her other hand playfully caressing him until he arched against her hand. "You still all right?"

Softly moaning and breathing hard, Munch grinned and gasped when she loosely twisted her hold without hurting him. "All right doesn't cut what I'm feeling."

"Good." Maria slipped her mouth over him and used her hands to hold his waist down as she did him. John clawed at the carpet under him and exhaled a long breath to steady himself. Every awful moment they had between them, the drunken stupor he had knocked himself into, and the looks Ben had given him out of concern began to seep from his pores and tears began to form on the corner of his eyes. Next thing he knew, his body began to tremble and the feel Maria's lips pressing up against his calmed him. "You still with me?"

Her voice brought him back to reality and John opened his eyes to see her leaning over him with a warm smile on her face. "Kinda lost myself there for a minute."

"Yeah, you did." She used a wet towel to clean him off and sat back on her hands as he laid there. "I think laying on the bed would be more comfortable for you."

"You think so?"

She nodded her head and stood up, stretching her arms over her head and giving John a rather wonderful view. "C'mon." She held out a hand for him to take and they went to settle down on the bed. When he laid back with his arms over his head while she sat down beside him, Munch took in the feel of her hands gently caressing over his chest. Her fingers grazed over his still lingering leaf tattoo right above his left nipple. "This stinker is still in great shape."

"Isn't it? I told you I had a great tattoo artist who did it for me." He reached a hand up and tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear. "You should get another one." His dark eyes scanned down to the small koi fish around her navel. "Maybe we can both get one at the same time."

"Of what?" Maria tilted her head to one side, wondering what he was thinking of.

"I was thinking that I could get one with your name and Ben's name while you get one with my name and Ben's name." His soft fingers gently cupped one breast and he gave a silly smile. "I'd like my name right here." His thumb rubbed right above the nipple and she giggled.

Taking a hold of his hand and kissing his fingers. "Putting your name down to place claim?"

"If I were to do that, I'd place my name on every limb and location on your body." He sat up and they touched noses. "Thank you for your patience with me."

Deeply kissing him, Maria pulled away just enough to say, "Anything to help my man," before claiming his mouth once more. She felt his hand touch the side of her face as he eased her onto her back, shuddering at the thought of them finally joining together.

Burying his face into her neck and feeling overwhelming love for this woman, John reached a hand down and eased himself into her depths. She arched against him and softly cried out when he bit down on her shoulder. Barely taking any time to pause, he began thrusting at a slow and steady pace, loosing himself in the sensations.

Maria wrapped her arms around his back and held on tightly, closing her eyes and losing herself in the soft sounds they made together. It had been so long since she had felt his gentle touches, the love he had for her and the way he physically expressed it. Gasping when he playfully nipped her collar bone, Frank wove her fingers through his hair and grasped his mostly silver hair. She forced him to raise his head, exposing his neck, and she returned the nip to the base of his throat.

John growled deep in his throat at the contact of her teeth. Reaching behind his head and releasing her fingers from him, he pinned both wrists up her head and their eyes connected for the next few minutes as Munch quickened his pace, sending both of their bodies into a frenzy.

Feeling a climax nearing, Maria thrust her hips up towards John while pulling to try and free her wrists. John gripped them harder and deepened his thrusts until they finally reached their achievement. Munch stilled as he pulsed in her depths and Maria arched her back, gasping loudly when he pressed his face into her neck. "Jesus...," He gasped softly, his knees shaking from holding his weight up.

"C'mere," Maria pulled a hand free and wrapped it around his sweaty back, letting him settle down completely on top of her. Once John had fully relaxed and settled comfortably on her, Frank gently caressed the side of his face. "Feeling better?"

Gently taking her free hand and lacing his fingers with hers, John softly answered with, "Let's say that I feel like we can do this all day long."

"Let's remember we'll have to pick Ben up at some point." She reminded him with a laugh, sighing when he sat up and eyed the wine bottle. "What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking, we haven't swapped wine in a while."

She sat up and stretched her legs out, easing a small cramp out. "We still have time for that." He glanced over in her direction and she winked. "Go for it."

Quickly cleaning himself off in the bathroom and popping the cork of the wine, he took a quick swig of it before sitting back down on the bed with her. "Good wine you got here. I see you also got grapes?"

"That's for in case we're still in the mood for some fun." Maria watched as he took a smaller swig of the wine and leaned over, pressing his lips close to hers, gradually easing the wine into her mouth. When she slowly swallowed it and welcomed John in to prod her mouth for a few minutes, Frank took the bottle from him and eyed him slyly.

"Your turn," he whispered, gently kissing the corner of her mouth.

Giving him a sly smile, she tilted her head back and took a swig for herself before taking a smaller one to share. Placing a hand on the back of his head and pulling him closer, she sighed his hands came in contact with her breasts. John slowly swallowed the wine as he flattened his palms over her warm and soft breasts, growing excited over her reactions.

She broke the kiss gradually, but didn't pull away from his hands. "If we're not careful, we'll empty this wine real fast."

He chuckled and pressed his palms closer. "You know, if we didn't have a schedule right now, we can certainly do that."

"I'll keep that in mind for future 'playtime'." She laughed, placing the bottle on the floor and covering his hands with hers. "Frankly, I'm really enjoying where this part is going, too."

John warmly smiled and laid her back on the bed, replacing his hands for his mouth. When she arched her back against him and sighed passionately, Munch could feel this was going to be a fun round.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

By the time it was ready to pick up Ben, the grapes have been dealt with, half of the wine was gone and both were too stiff and tired to move. The food hadn't been touched, but there was a chance to warm it up and for all three of them to eat together.

The fun part was trying to figure out who was going to pick up Ben by taxi. "You're up." Maria poked John's hip with a finger once Ben had called.

"No fucking way," he groaned back, laying on his stomach with his arms wrapped around a pillow. Maria had her head resting on his backside. "I did most of the work."

"Ha!" Maria reached a hand out and playfully smacked him, causing John to yelp. "Giving you a blow wasn't easy, considering I gave two blows." She held up two fingers as he peered out from burying his face in the pillow. "Two and that takes work, my dear. It's not just head bobbing. There is skill involved."

He snorted softly into the pillow and made a move to get up. "Okay. You win. Granted there is skill involved when it comes to me tending to you, but you use more skills because you do."

"Cool and while you're picking up Ben, I need to take a shower. One of these trips we take, we've got to remember to bring some rubbers." She sat up and watched John get dressed. "It's great not needing protection, but damn. Sometimes, the clean up for me is a bitch."

Munch chuckled and glanced over at her while doing up his belt. "But it's totally worth it, right?"

"It sure is."

* * *

Later that night while eating lunch, Ben glanced over at his parents and noticed both were trading looks with smiles. Maria had cleaned the place up before Ben and John returned, but it was easy for him to notice the almost empty bottle of wine, John picking him up in a taxi and the stifled giggles they shared.

The youngster smiled behind his glasses and went back to his meal. Ben was ten, but he wasn't stupid.

**To be continued...**


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Small warning for PTSD flashback.**

A month later -**  
**

_Struggling to scream through the hand being pressed against her mouth, she pulled at the handcuffs restraining her hands. His stench of cigarettes and strong alcohol made her nauseous as he breathed heavily against her neck, practically inhaling her fear. She shifted a leg in an attempt to kick him back before he had complete control, but he drove the tip of his pocket knife into her thigh. "Not going to do that again, are you?" He asked in a sickly soft voice, tracing his tongue along the crook of her neck._

Maria began to breath rather heavily in her sleep, pressing her face further into her pillow. Sweat was starting to form along her forehead.

_He kept his hand pressed hard against her mouth as he reached down and undid his belt, grinning with excitement as she struggled harder against his hold. She knew fully well what was about to happen and she didn't want it. The man kicked off his shoes and lowered his pants, biting down on his tongue as he slowly drove himself hard into her. Tears rolled down her eyes as she cried out against his calloused hand, struggled with all of her strength to get him off of her, out of her, and away from her. _

She pressed her back against John's stomach, almost gripping at his arm that had been draped over her waist. He groaned in his sleep, but didn't stir.

_The man sat back on his knees once he was finished and looked over the woman's body. A bruise was starting to form where his hand had been placed over her mouth and she was lightly bleeding down below. Her body trembled with fear and her throat burned from struggling to scream out. She kept her head turned away to the left, eying the door in hopes someone would knock or open it out of curiosity. Sheering pain shot through her body and she hoarsely gasped when the man pressed his knife against her shin, dragging it along. Blood trickled from the cut and he moved the blade to another spot - her stomach - and did the same thing again. _

Trembling in her sleep and whining in her throat, Frank pressed herself harder against John in an attempt to hide. Munch began to stir and quickly noticed she was trembling. He pressed his hand against her forehead and realized it was coated in sweat. _Oh, no. _It had been a while since she had night terrors and it felt like this was going to be a rough one. "Mar? Maria, it's just me," he whispered as he slowly rolled her over, knowing she would lash out and harm him if he moved her too quickly or made sudden moves.

_Kevin licked her blood off of his blade and grinned down at her once again. "For a woman who had a cold exterior for the past few months, you're blood is warm." He had been watching her from a distance since he was forced to leave the department out of fear for his mental health. He licked his lips and drove himself back into her, sighing with content when she groaned from the pain. "Like it?_"

John gently hugged Maria against his chest. He didn't want Ben to wake up to the sounds of her fighting off a night terror due to the fact the boy didn't know anything of her past. Her neck scar was barely noticeable by this point in their lives or Ben would have noticed that a long time ago. He softly spoke to Maria, hoping his voice would draw her away from the nightmare.

_He forced Maria to look into his eyes after the fifth time raping her. Her entrance was slick with his semen and her blood which had driven him into a frenzy of sick enjoyment. Digging his nails into her jaw, Kevin roughly kissed her and chuckled when she pulled away, too exhausted to really fight him anymore. "Too tired, are we?" He patted her cheek and stood up, wiping his hands and himself with a towel. "I enjoyed working with you, but getting a chance to actually do you is far more enjoyable." _

His fingers combed through her sweaty hair and he pressed his forehead against hers, softly and calming coaxing Maria back into the real world - the world he and her shared together with their son and canine dog. "Maria? I know you can hear me, sweetheart. Please, wake up."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Ben scratched his arm as he yawned, attempting to head downstairs for a glass of water before going to bed. He paused for a moment when something caught his attention, turning his head towards his parents room. It wasn't a good sound he was hearing and took a few steps closer, peering through the small crack between the door and the door frame. Something wasn't right when he heard Dad whispering, "It's okay, Mar. I'm right here."

He pushed the door open slowly and quietly asked, "Is mom okay?"

"Ben? Don't come closer, buddy," John warned him firmly, holding her closer when she started to tremble harder.

"Dad, what's wrong? Did I do something? Is mom upset?" He froze in his steps and swallowed heavily. "Is she okay?"

Munch shook his head slightly and grasped a wrist, holding it down before she swung out. "She's not okay. Can you go get a cold wet washcloth, please?"

Ben sprinted off to the bathroom and soaked a washcloth in cold water and rung it out to drain out excess water. He sprinted back to the room, slowly to a walk as he walked in. "Here."

He reached out for the cloth, keeping one eye on Maria's arms. "Just don't touch her, buddy." Ben nodded his head and watched John press the cloth to her forehead, observing her trembling and the soft whining sounds she made in her throat. "I had hoped you wouldn't see this."

"I'm sorry, dad." He lowered his eyes, feeling like he was in trouble from John's tone. "I didn't mean to. I just..."

"It's okay," Munch told him, motioning to the lamp for Ben to turn on. "I'm not mad at you, son. It's just something that is connected to a bad part in her life. She's having a nightmare and I need to wake her up or coax her out of it very carefully." He gently pressed the cloth to the back of her neck, softly kissing her forehead. "Just don't touch her or she'll swing an arm out."

The youngster watched his dad showing such tenderness and patience to her. "Why would she swing out? Isn't she asleep?"

"She is, but when she's touched suddenly or if I am to move too quickly, she swings her arms out to protect herself. She's having a nightmare and when she senses sudden or quick movements around her, she wants to harm whatever it is." Munch released his hold of her wrist and wrapped an arm around her once her trembling stopped. "There. I think she's out of it." He gently wiped the sweat from her face and neck, squeezing the cloth to comb the cool water through her hair.

"Can I touch her now?" Ben wanted to place his hand on her shoulder, to show he wasn't going to hurt his mom.

"Yes, but be very slow when reaching out." He instructed, keeping one eye on Maria and one on Ben. "Very slowly and very carefully."

Ben reached an arm out and slowly approached the bed, like he was reaching out to a timid animal. When his fingers came in contact with her shoulder, he felt her tense up and froze. "Dad?"

"It's okay. She tensed up, but she's not moving her arms."

His palm made contact with her shoulder and he gave it a squeeze, feeling her relax and he smiled. "I felt her relax."

"That's good. She's fast asleep, but she can feel you're not going to harm her." John watched Maria sadly, placing his hand on her cheek and running his thumb under her closed eye where tears would have been if she had been awake. "No one else is going to harm her, not while I'm around."

"What happened to her?" Ben finally asked, the question nagging at him and the curiosity from John's last statement.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering how to explain it. "A man hurt her a long time ago. He hurt her in ways no man should ever treat a woman." He raised the sleeve of her nightshirt and pointed out a still visible scar. "He did this to her. He sliced her up with a knife while doing other awful things to her to the point it almost killed her."

"Mom almost died?" He asked in a small voice.

"She did, but good people got to her in time, called the hospital and saved her." Munch continued to stroke her face tenderly, letting her know he was still there.

Ben farrowed his brows in confusion. "Where were you?"

John swallowed heavily, knowing he was going to ask that question. "Mom and I were not together at the time. We knew each other some years before she was hurt, but she had to leave and we went on with our lives until I got a call at work about a woman who was hurt." He raised his head and looked at Ben in the eyes. "You remember how we told we used to work as special cops?"

"Yes." He answered honestly. Maria and John hadn't gone any farther to explain they were 'special cops' that did rape cases.

"Well, I was the one who got her case and solve who had harmed her." He glanced back down and smiled when her eyes barely opened before closing again. "She's waking up, I think."

The youngster leaned forward to look into her face. "Mom?"

She moaned and pressed her face into John's chest. "Ben?"

Ben smiled and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Hi, mom. Feeling better?"

Sighing heavily and reaching a hand up to rub his head, Maria muttered, "Kinda. I'm just really tired." She felt John's other hand stroke her back while his other caressed her face softly. "John?"

"Hm?" He pressed his forehead against hers, resisting the urge to kiss her passionately with Ben being there.

She opened her eyes slightly and touched her nose to his. "Thank you."

He grinned and raised his head, watching Ben smile back at him. "You're welcome, hun. We both helped you."

"Thank you both."

* * *

Later afternoon the next day -

Maria rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers, trying to grasp that Ben knew part of her past. "Man, oh, man. At some point, he's going to learn everything."

"He will, but he doesn't need to know all of the details yet." John sat on the patio chair beside her, a glass of scotch in his hands. "That would be putting a lot of pressure on him and he doesn't need that." He took a slow sip and glanced over at her. "You don't need to be ashamed of your history, Mar. It's not like you were a hooker, I was the client and we hooked up." She glanced at him with a face and he chuckled. "Just sayin'."

She sighed heavily and drank down her Scotch in one go. "Damn it. How'd he take it?"

John shrugged and swirled his drink slightly in the glass, watching it swirl around. "He looked stunned, but I couldn't really tell. He hides his expressions well."

"'Cause he gets that from you," She remarked, reaching a hand down to scratch Moose's head as he slept. "Well, shit." She stood up and called Ben outside from doing his homework. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure!" He placed down his pencil and headed out to where they were, scooting to sit on her lap when she patted her legs. "What's going on?"

"Ben, I want you to understand how proud I am for how well you behaved last night. What was going on with me isn't something that's normal." Maria wrapped an arm around his waist and he nodded his head, glancing over at John as well. "It's something that I haven't gone through in a long time actually."

He furrowed his brows again, taking in what she said. "It's happened before?"

John nodded his head, answering, "Yes." He took another sip of his drink - a much larger one this time. "Many times."

"Why? Why does it happen?"

"It happens because it's something that is permanently stuck in my mind. It was so traumatic, I suffer from flashbacks, nightmares and night terrors, images of the man who harmed me in front of me and they seem real. Certainly things remind me of it and it's hard to avoid and escape from." She carefully explained to Ben, watching his face for any changes. "It...the man who harmed me is someone who I had trusted because we had worked together in the same place. He harmed many other people, including those I worked with. Dad and I were not together at the time and we worked in different states."

Ben tilted his head to one side, seeing both of his parents' demeanor changing as she talked about it. "You trusted him?"

"I did. I had to with where I worked because he was my partner. Right after your dad and I met, the man was told to leave because he wasn't doing well. He was very unwell in his mind and needed to be let go. Some time later, he started harming people in bad ways that it killed them. Very few people survived his attacks and I'm one of them."

Maria stretched her neck up and slide her finger along where her scar was. "He did this when he was done harming me."

The youngster's mouth slightly opened and he reached a hand out, his long fingers tracing along what he could see. "How could he...?" He paused for a moment and looked rather angry. "How could he do this to you?"

"Because he was sick. He was a very sick man that could not have been stopped." John explained, understanding his anger. "He was finally caught by the people I worked with and he was locked up before he was killed." Ben turned his head towards John, his question etched on his face. "Yes, the man is dead for real. The prison system had him killed for his crimes for what he did to mom, to the people she worked with and to the innocent people he hurt."

Ben pressed his lips tightly together, eyes narrowed. "Good. Anyone who does such awful things to people like Mom need to dead." Maria was slightly taken aback by his harsh statement, but he shook his head. "I mean it, Mom. He did bad things to you and other people. Like Dad said, he could not be stopped. People like that guy deserve to be gone."

"Just understand that not all bad people deserve to die. Only those who due extremely terrible things without stopping need to." She explained firmly. "Some people who do bad things can't control themselves, but they try to stop themselves. Those are people that need help to feel better so they can be good people again."

"Like who?" He asked, wondering if they knew anyone.

Both Maria and John shared a look and thought of one person. "Your great Uncle Andrew." John muttered, glancing down at his drink once again. "He did something that wasn't good and he wasn't well in the head."

"I have a great uncle?"

"Yes, you do." Maria glanced over at John and saw how it bugged him. "You've only met him once when you were little. He knew who we were, he enjoyed meeting you and everything, but he's just not well."

Ben asked, "Is he good now?"

"No," Munch answered. "He stopped taking his medication because he stated 'I have rights', which is true. He does have his own rights, but I wanted him to feel better so he can be his usual self." He emptied his glass and stared at it. "I'm going to refill my glass."

Maria watched him leave and knew he wasn't going to return. Talking about Andrew was a tough topic for him. "Uncle Andrew killed someone who was believed to be a bad person while on his meds. The medication had stopped working correctly when that happened and he was placed in a hospital special for people with brain problems. He is also your dad's uncle and the brother to his dad - your grandfather."

"Dad didn't look happy."

"It's because he's not. Uncle Andrew has a type of brain issue that may just be genetic, meaning it's in the family blood and your dad might have it, but he's doing his best to not have it appear. Your dad and his dad had a fight one night when he was a kid - a little older than you - and right after, he killed himself." Frank chose her words carefully for Ben to understand. "It's a part of his past he doesn't like to talk about either."

He nodded his head slowly, listening carefully to everything. "Dad's going to be okay though, right?"

"As long as we're both by his side, he'll be fine." She smiled, combing back his dark hair. "Like I said, I'm very proud of you for your behavior last night when I wasn't doing well. It's takes a lot for someone like you to be that brave."

"I didn't feel that brave."

She hugged him tightly. "You were. You were calm, did what he asked you to do and you didn't show fear." Maria pulled away and smiled at him. "That's the big thing, buddy."

He smiled and hopped off of her lap. "Am I okay to get back to my homework?"

"Go for it." She watched him leave and thought for a moment, staring at the clouds. Life was certainly different for both of them, but at least they had a supportive little guy when something bad happened. He proved that last night. _Now to find John._

Heading back into the house and taking a quick glance through the rooms, she headed up the stairs and head sounds coming from the bathroom. "Hey, babe." She leaned against the doorway when she found him bracing his hands on the bathroom sink, head bowed, and his refilled glass of scotch sitting on the counter. "Ben had to know about Andrew-"

"I know." He muttered quickly, his fingers gripping the sink tightly. "I know he did."

She walked in and slowly ran her hands up his back, feeling how tense he was. "He's not going to think less of you, if that's something you're afraid of." When he didn't move, Frank wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged his back, her cheek resting between his shoulder blades. "What's the matter?"

"I don't want to be like my uncle." He stated softly. "I don't want to be like him. I don't want the disorder to get me either."

"You've been taking your meds, right?" She asked and he nodded his head 'yes'. "Do you feel they're working correctly?" His nod was a single nod. "John, are you starting to feel differently?" When he didn't move, Maria released her hold of him and leaned over to look at his face. "John?"

His eyes opened slowly and he glanced in her direction, his dark eyes showing how scared he was. "I've been having some issues appearing." He closed his eyes again and swallowed. "Been dealing with some fatigue and weird feelings of not being able to really understand where I am."

Maria closed her eyes and pulled him into a hug, holding him close. "We'll get it straightened out for you. We will get control of the mental illness so you can be you, got it?" She pulled away and placed a hand under his chin, getting him to look at her. "Is this why you couldn't find your spark for me a while back?"

"Something happened and I hit a hard depressive state, like I couldn't understand why I loved you." Tears started to form along his eyes and he removed his tinted glasses, trying to wipe them away. "I couldn't understand it, even though we're better than we had been doing."

She gently shushed him and pulled him into another hug, sitting on the edge of the tub. "I will find a way to fix this. We will get stronger medication to get it straightened out." Frank felt her shirt getting wet, letting her know he was actually starting to cry. "I love you, John. No matter what happens, Ben and I will be by your side." She reached an arm back and turned on the water, preparing a shower.

Munch sniffled as he raised his head, using the back of his hand to wipe his tears. "Even when I'm staring off in the distance and don't seem to recognize you?"

"Of course. That's why we're going to get stronger medication for you and food that will help strengthen your mind." She lifted her shirt over her head and reached for the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his head. "You're my guy and I stand by my guy's side."

He smiled and reached behind her, undoing her bra and they both stood, removing the last bit of clothing. Once they were both under the warm water of the shower and surrounded by the steam, John nuzzled her neck and whispered, "Even when I'm groping you in your sleep and I don't understand why there's a woman beside me?"

"When are you **not** groping me?" She laughed, seeing him grin making her heart sore. "You always seem to grope me in my sleep when you're off in happy-land."

"When there's a beautiful woman beside me, it's hard to resist not to." Munch's smile gradually disappeared, his face growing sad. "Seriously, I don't want to be Uncle Andrew. I want to know where I am and who I'm with, instead of spacing out with the fatigue and depression all the time."

Lathering up some shampoo in her hands and rubbing it in his hair, Frank kept her eyes locked on his. "See, this is where my skills with medication come in handy. We'll get a higher dose and see how you do. You're not going to hide it or ignore it because you can't and it won't let you." She rinsed off her hands and flicked her finger under his chin. "Chin up, okay? It's not the end of the world."

John cracked a smile and closed his eyes as he rinsed his hair out. "I make things bigger than it's suppose to be, aren't I?"

"Frankly," She paused for a moment with a cocky smile. "Yes."

With a growl, he pinned her against the wet shower wall and grinned. "Now what was with that cocky smile? Hm?"

She cocked a brow and licked her wet lips, giving a sly smile. "I gave an honest answer when you asked. When did I give a cocky smile?"

"Just now," he whispered, leaning in with a change of attitude in his eyes. The pain and confusion had been replaced with a crave she had been aiming to draw out. "That smile you gave. What was that for?"

Shrugging her shoulders and staring off at the shower curtains with a silly smile, Maria chose to ignore the hand that slide up her side."You really want to know?" She turned her face to look at him again and glanced down, wordlessly pointing out what she meant. "You certainly do make things **bigger**."

"You are one sly fox, Mar."

"I do my best," she whispered as he leaned closer, closing the gap between them.

**To be continued...**  
**Somehow, I didn't expect to finish this as fast as I did. I'm on a roll!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Several weeks later -**  
**

Inhaling a slow breath and taking in the cool spring breeze, Ben Munch watched two birds chase each other through the trees at the park. Life had quieted back down to normal once a few things had been straightened out. He observed his dad - John - taking medication pills every morning at breakfast, knowing it was suppose to help him feel more mentally stable.

Moose peacefully slept under the tree near the swings, his fluffy ears splayed out gracefully on the leaves and grass. Nearby, Maria and John were having a calm conversation together on a park beach and both looked rather relaxed. John's arm was lazily draped over her shoulder as she sat back with her right leg over her left, a smile plastered happily on their features.

Within a few days time, the three of them were taking a trip by car to Pennsylvania to see the Gettysburg battle field as a field trip for Ben. Maria had mentioned she had seen it a few times before and it was also a thrilling and educational adventure to see. Both animals - Charlie the Conure and Moose the Cocker Spaniel - were also coming with.

John laughed loudly from something Maria had said and Ben turned his head in their direction. He watched how close they were sitting and was glad to see his dad had a real smile on his face. It had been a rocky number of days when he had started on the new medication and Ben shook his head remembering it. He knew fully well how protective and strong John was, but seeing him having moments of fatigue and not exactly remember where or what he was doing was troubling for Ben. He wasn't used to seeing his own father being so vulnerable.

"Ben? Ready to go home for dinner?"

He turned his head sharply and saw Maria waving him over as John walked over the shaded spot where Moose was and snapped the leash on as the dog got up on his feet, stretching.

Shaking the dirt from his jeans and sprinting over, the ten year old quickly took the leash from John's hand and continued sprinting off with Moose at his side to the car. John raised a brow and pocketed his hands as he walked. "Why's he so spirited all of a sudden?"

Maria shrugged and reached for the keys to automatically unlock the car from where they were. "I'm not sure. Maybe because of the trip we're taking?" She glanced up at him with a smile. "Or maybe he's just feeling happy. You have been feeling better and when you're happy, we're happy." She reached for his hand when he pulled it from his pocket and their fingers linked.

John smiled to himself and raised his head to look at the bright blue sky. The weather was gradually getting warmer as May approached and the green leaves worked well with the blue sky. "I am feeling better. I'm not feeling as lost as I had been."

"Good," Frank replied, gripping his fingers with hers. "Ready to take on a three hour ride to Gettysburg? If not, I can drive."

He shook his head as they reached the car, taking the keys from her so he could drive. "I can do it. When we get home, I need to go see someone."

Maria nodded her head as she settled into the car, reaching for her belt. "Who?"

"Just someone special." Munch gave his shot answer as he reached back to scratch Moose's head as the dog leaned forward to greet them.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"He's been doing very well for the past few weeks, Mr. Munch. He's been reacting to our questions and answering them properly." The nurse opened the door to Andrew Munch's room at the psychiatric ward. "He should be finishing dinner as we speak. If you need me, just give us a ring."

John nodded his head and walked silently into the room, giving a weary smile to his aging uncle. "Uncle Andrew? Remember me?"

The pudgy man lifted his head from his small meal and squinted his eyes, raking through his mind. "John?" His nephew nodded his head with a bigger smile and sat down at his small table. "Has it been a while since we've seen each other?"

"No, actually it hasn't been. I was in last week." John explained patiently, folding his hands on the table with a small smile. "We talked about Ben, my son. Remember?"

Andrew tilted his head thoughtfully before his face lightened up. "Yes, I believe I remember him. He's ten now, right?" John nodded his head and the older man smiled. "He's a big boy, for sure."

"Sure is. He sighed up for basketball at the youth center this summer and was place in the advanced preteen group since he plays so well." He pulled out a photo of Ben in his sports uniform from his wallet and showed it to his uncle. "They measured him for his uniform and took photos of their players to hang on the wall. They said if he does extremely well with the summer season, they'll keep him on for the winter season when sign ups come up again."

Taking the photo from his hand, Andrew held it close to his face and observed it carefully. "Looks like you," he stated rather bluntly, raising his eyes to look at his nephew. "Who are you with again?"

"Her name's Maria," Munch answered calmly, ignoring Andrew's bluntness. He knew his uncle didn't mean it. "You've met her a few times."

Uncle Andrew slide the photo back to John and went back to his cooling dinner. "You've been good to her?"

"More than good, Uncle. I protect her with my life, like I do with Ben." He tucked the photo back into his wallet and asked, "Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I hadn't been well?"

The older man raised his eyes from eating and blankly stared at John, unable to recall it.

"Well, your brother - my father - hadn't been well either when he killed himself. He wasn't fine in the head department and you have it, hence why you're here." He motioned his hand toward the direction of the hallway, meaning the building in general. "I hadn't been doing well over the past year and started taking medication. Some time ago, they had slowly stopped working correctly and I was starting to show serious issues that was affecting my relationship with Maria and Ben."

Andrew sat up straighter and eyed Munch carefully. "You look fine to me."

John tilted his head slightly to one side. "That's because I'm on stronger medication, Uncle Andrew. I'm feeling better." _I wanted you to feel this better, too,_ he thought with a hint of desperation.

"Hm," was the only response Andrew gave as he finished his vegetables. "That's good you're feeling better."

Munch softly sighed as he watched his uncle finish his meal. For a moment there, he had managed to get his full attention and even decent responses. He was glad to see him every week to every other week, but it broke his heart.

* * *

"I actually had decent responses there for a moment, Mar." John was gradually getting undressed for bed, pausing every now and then to work on his thoughts. "One of these days, he won't be able to recognize me at all."

Maria stood before him in just her panties and hands on her hips, watching him carefully. "He made a choice, John. He didn't want to be on any medication and checked himself into the ward himself, instead of pleading not guilty due to insanity for killing that suspect."

He pulled a black scrub shirt over his head and reached for the matching bottoms. "If I had done some serious research with those medications, maybe he would have had a chance?"He glanced at her with a hopeful look.

"He might have, but you didn't know that." She pulled a nightshirt on over her head, straightening out. Wrapping her arms around him and tilting her head to look into his eyes, she flashed him with a smile. "Besides, he's healthy, eating, happy where he is... Isn't that what you want for him?"

John glanced to the side and raised his brows. "I guess so."

She kissed him softly and patted his chest. "I know it's a tough subject for you, but just go with it and enjoy what times you have with him. He's not going to be around forever." Frank removed her glasses and ran her fingers through her hair. "Even if he doesn't remember it, you will have a peace of mind that he was well taken care of."

Pondering it for a moment, Munch looked over at her and realized neither of them were as young as they had been when Uncle Andrew committed his crime. "We're not young any more, Mar. I'm in my early seventies here."

"So? Men have made it into their hundreds." She watched him carefully as he sat down, his eyes scanning around their room. "What's the matter?"

"What if what I'm doing isn't good enough? What if something happens to me or if nothing works out right to keep myself mentally healthy?" He was seriously concerned, knowing it would kill Maria if something happened to him. "If something happens to me that results in me not being around anymore, you can't follow through with your set plan because we have Ben, Moose and Charlie to consider."

Frowning slightly and leaning back against the headboard, Frank didn't like how he was thinking about this. He had a right to consider what was going to happen with their future and with Ben's future, but this was depressing. "John, please don't let or make me think about this right now. I know we're not going to live forever, but please let's not go there now."

"Sorry," he murmured, slowly getting under the covers and facing away from her.

Softly sighing, Maria laid down and pressed her body against his, arm wrapped around his waist. "I'm not mad at you, dear. I know these are things we need to consider and think about, but we need to find a right time to do this."

"Hm." John didn't move or even acknowledge her warmth against him.

"I have a hard time sleeping when this shit comes up because it worries me and then I'm totally screwed out of getting any rest with my mind going a mile a minute." Frank moved the collar of his shirt a little and pressed her lips to the back of his neck. "Please, look at me."

He still didn't move.

Maria blew out a breath and gave up. "I love you, John," she whispered as she settled down, hugging him from behind. When his fingers slowly linked between hers, she smiled to herself and nuzzled closer. "Everything's going to be fine because we will find a way. Please don't worry about it."

"I'll try, Mar."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Maria sat in the car with Moose as John talked over with Ben about the history of a Gettysburg statue. The ride up had been painless and getting settled into their rented cottage was easy enough, but now was the fun part of actually teaching Ben about this field trip.

To calm John over his worries about what was going to happen in case something happened to either of them, Maria had worked a few things over with his former work partner, Fin. In case something happened, Fin was going to step in and help no matter what since he had retired not too long ago.

As a fat raindrop smacked against the windshield, Moose's long ears went forward and he whined. "Tell me about it," Maria muttered, sticking her head out. "Hey, boys! Rain's coming. You'll get soaked if you don't come in."

"Just a few more minutes," John called back with a wave and a smile. Ben circled around the massive statue as John held a history book, reading about the statue and who it was. Moments later, the rain broke through the clouds and it began to pour. Motioning for Moose to get into the back seat, she held back a laugh as the boys came sprinting back. Ben just about dove into the car and closed the door quickly, shaking his soaked head while John dried the book off with a towel. "Well, there goes that visual lesson for the day."

"There's always tomorrow, dad." Ben reminded him, leaning forward between the seats. "Can we finished where we stopped at?"

John grinned as he handed the book the child. "Of course."

They drove back to their rented cottage and Ben sprinted upstairs to take a shower. Maria eyed John as he stood there in their bedroom, his clothes soaked. "Told you you would get soaked," she played with a smile on her face. Munch huffed and started removing his shirt, but Maria stopped him. "Wait."

Looking up with a concern, he noticed something in her eyes and lowered his arms. His heart began to pound as he watched her slip down to her knees, her eyes staying locked with his. "Mar."

She shook her head slowly - telling him to not talk - and leaned forward to very gently nip his groin area. Munch inhaled a sharp breath and his legs began to tremble in excitement. The sensation of his fly being pulled down heighten his sensitivity and he reached around for anything to keep his balance. The wall on his left provided the support he needed as Maria's fingers slipped under his boxer briefs and slacks, pulling them down with ease.

Seeing he had already risen to attention, Frank smirked as she ran her hand along his stiff erection and kissed the side. John released a shuddering sigh and tilted his head back, eyes slipping shut. He gripped the wall with his hand and groaned, feeling Maria slipping her mouth over him. It had been a long time since they had done this and after their slight spat a few days ago, the tension was still in the air.

Maria placed one hand on his waist and used her other hand to fondle him lower, rotating the soft orbs in her hand. As she worked on him, she hear his heavy breathing in her ears and could easy tell he wasn't going to last long. He moaned out her name and combed his fingers through her hair, looking down long enough to watch her do what she did best. To him, it was a breathtaking sight to behold and he tested the waters carefully by slightly thrusting into her mouth for just a second.

She raised her eyes and smiled as she continued working on him, removing her mouth to trace her tongue from his soft orbs to the tip of his erection. John bit down on his bottom lip and closed his eyes again - he was so close. "Mar," he panted, giving her a warning he was very soon to climax.

She released him and worked on him with her hands, panting herself. "You're liking this?"

"Yes."

"You're going to come?"

"Yes." He was so close, he couldn't stand it.

Maria grinned and reached for a tissue, getting ready. Tilting his head back, John groaned and Frank placed the tissue over the tip of his erection. She bit down on her bottom lip as she felt him pulsing in her hands, his climax achieved. Wiping it clean with another tissue, Maria started to pull his slacks back up, but John stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "John?"

He stared down at her with lust in his eyes, he stood her up and kissed her deeply. "I love you." He raised her shirt over her head and gently bit down on her chest, admiring the perfect globes secure in her bra. "Ben's going to lay down after his shower, right?"

"He sure is," she reached behind her back and undid the straps. "What are you feeling for?"

John smirked and eyed the wall behind her. "I want you against the wall, whispering the dirtiest things you can come with into my ear."

"This is going to be fun," she muttered hotly.

**To be continued...  
To lurkers and followers, there is a mega awesome fic that is being worked on between me and another writer. We've been working on it for months now and hoping to get it up and running in the following months. Hard to get it up since we're both busy and life in general can be a real fucking bitch. In the mean time, I'm working on a sequel of another fic and two one-shot fics to pass the time. I'm expecting this to be done very soon, considering how it's going. Peace, all!  
**


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank and Ben Munch are my own creations. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Planning on this being the last chapter. Took me longer since I've been away on a two week vacation and trying to do some writing during any free time or when there's been wifi.  
**

Few months later -

Life in general was finally straightening out for the better. Maria had finally managed to get John to shush up about what they were going to do in case anything happened to one of them. They had sat down and worked over who was going to care for Ben in case anything was to happen to both of them, but other than that, ideas had slowly worked in place without them interfering.

While Ben was at the community center with a few of his friends for a friendly game of basketball, Maria and John sat comfortably on the top bleachers to just observe as Ben made the hoop, fist pumping the air as he jogged backwards as a friend grabbed for the bouncing ball.

"He's getting really good," Maria commented with a smile, proud of Ben's playing skills.

John smiled and took a hold of Maria's hand where it sat on her lap. "Well, he didn't learn these fast moves from me." He glanced over at Maria and squeezed her hand when she looked over. "It's probably all natural skills."

Ben waved over towards them quickly before calling for a friend to toss the ball to him to catch. They both returned the wave and Frank lowered her voice, "Think he can go pro?"

"He can certainly go professional if he wants to. He and I had been talking about what he wants to do as a career and he's not sure if he wants to follow in our steps or go with his sport." Munch replied honestly, knowing Maria secretly wanted him to become a professional basketball player. "I know you don't want him to follow in our steps."

Frank shrugged. "He can, but the last thing I want to see him get involved with is sex crimes. For him to know what we saw and lived with isn't something I want him to have on his mind."

"There are so many options he can pick from for the police life. He knows we were cops, but no way will we tell him about being in sex crimes until he's older." He stated firmly, his dark eyes watching their son make another shot. "Our nightmares have certainly not ended since we retired."

"No they haven't," She agreed, holding his fingers firmly. "But if we didn't have Ben, we probably wouldn't be as happy as we are now."

Grinning, John nodded his head. "I agree with you there, Mar." He gave her a sly smile and added, "I'm glad that condom broke."

Ben looked up from his game in time to see Maria toss back her head to laugh loudly. The ten year old boy smiled and jogged down the court, calling for the ball once more.

**The End.**


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